Comments on: The Basic Basics: “It’s my fault.”

By: Don’t just extinguish — make it fireproof. -- Hoover’s Business Insight Zone

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:51:55 +0000

[...] an excellent piece of advice from Joel Spolsky (from an article I’ve quoted before). The first way is to fix the problem of the moment; the second way is to solve and settle the [...]

By: Can Taking Responsibility for the Financial Crisis Be Good For You? — Authentic Organizations

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:50:44 +0000

[...] to the financial crisis will help organizations get out of the financial crisis, understand that taking responsibility is just the first step . It is a necessary step, though, because taking responsibility shifts the focus of a host of other [...]

By: 6 Reasons Why Taking Responsibility is Good for Your Organization — Authentic Organizations

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:49:28 +0000

[...] role in creating a better situation. By taking responsibility, your organization shifts itself away from being a victim or a bystander and towards being an influential participant. Here are 6 Reasons why taking responsibility can [...]

By: Tim Walker

Tim Walker — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:15:11 +0000

Devin — You’re right on track. If you look at customer service as a burden, it’s just a cost center — something you have to have, but that you invest in grudgingly.

If you look at it as an *opportunity*, the sky’s the limit. This is why companies like Nordstrom, Zappos, and Rackspace have been able to build thriving businesses around a core of super-duper customer service.

By: Devin @ CoolProducts

Devin @ CoolProducts — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:39:41 +0000

Customer Service should be seen by companies as an opportunity to create strong loyalties with customers. The majority of the time, if you fix a customers problem to their satisfaction (assuming its reasonable) they’ll continue coming back for your service. But let’s not leave customer service as a tool for the customers to simply go to when they have a problem, but a tool to ensure that the entire experience of the service by the customer has been of the highest quality.

By: The Basic Basics: Have a GOAL. -- Hoover’s Business Insight Zone

The Basic Basics: Have a GOAL. -- Hoover’s Business Insight Zone — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:12:11 +0000

[...] The Basic Basics: “It’s my fault.” [...]

By: Tim Walker

Tim Walker — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:22:19 +0000

Julia — You’re absolutely right — it’s like other parts of life. But think of how many people have an emotional need to be right, or to be SEEN to be right, that trumps their desire to come to a better outcome overall.

One of the things that I find as I write these “Basic Basics” posts is that I say things that are both (a) so obvious that they feel silly to even point out, but (b) REALLY hard to implement consistently — for me, too! — in day-to-day life.

By: Julia Chanteray

Julia Chanteray — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:32:30 +0000

Isn’t this true for other human relationships as well as business – being prepared to be in the wrong, and for this to be more important than being right all the time.

By: Tim Walker

Tim Walker — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:52:38 +0000

Indeed, Zane!

I like your formulation: leaders should take “excessive” responsibility for the environments they create.

By: Zane Safrit

Zane Safrit — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:35:05 +0000

Funny. Reading my comment I see I left the question-mark in the follower’s response. It gives a whole different perspective to that dialogue.