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service an art or a science?


Now that is a question that people have been attempting to answer forever. I have spent the majority of my career trying to move service more towards science than the art. The answer to that statement is, it all depends on the type of service being delivered. For instance, a preventative maintenance is much closer to science as it is clearly defined regarding what actions need to be taken for a desired result. When you look at unscheduled activity, or service calls, levels of troubleshooting are heavily weighted towards being an art.  Service calls take finesse, intuition, experience, knowledge, and attitude all blended together to come up with sometimes magical solutions.



When I think about a really good service person, regardless of industry, they are people who have a series of traits that are very consistent. From my experience these traits include curiosity, a deep hunger for understanding, the ability to experiment and have the confidence to make mistakes, solid domain understanding, and as importantly; an understanding of what delivering service really means. Some of these traits certainly can be taught but many are instinctual. When you meet an authentic service person they will do anything to find a solution.  So, in this day and age of evaporating skilled and qualified labor, when you find your authentic service person with a blend of both art and science, hold on tightly.



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