We really can convince ourselves of just about anything if we want.I've got good news this week friends: 2020 is just about half over.It is official: as Marvin Gaye originally wrote and Martha Reeve and the Vandellas once sung (and Mick Jagger & David Bowie famously covered), "Summer's here and the time is right for dancin' in the streets."And so many people want us all to be dancin' in the streets right now. Retailers, bars, restaurants, local businesses, higher education institutions, kids and politicians all want the world to hear the call that everything is "open for business."But are they really? Despite us all really wanting and them needing it to be true, are we really ready to be "open for business" across all aspects of our daily lives?I'm reminded of this famous quote from Maya Angelou:When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first timeIt's funny: in addition to the ability to turn the page and look to the future and transport themselves to a happy place, we have seen that humans are pretty good at rationalizing and convincing themselves that things are a certain way when they want them to be.So before you go about convincing yourselves to start dancin' in the proverbial streets, I'd like to you pause for a second. When just about any service, retail store, company, institution, business, governmental agency, etc, you patronized before this all happened tells you they are "open for business," ask yourself this:In these unprecedented times, are they ready to be "open for business"? Were they good at what they did when times weren't unprecedented? Or did you complain about their execution then?Listen to what Maya Angelou said. If you liked them before and they provided value to you, that likely won't change.But if they executed poorly and provided low value before the pandemic, you can sure as hell expect that it will happen again (and very likely, worse) now -- no matter how badly they want you to believe that it will be "business as usual." This includes restaurants, bars, your local stores, universities, employers, companies, etc.I know you want things to get back to normal, but think about it and be skeptical Friends. And look at your own businesses and think about how your customers felt about you before all of this went down. Be the kind of "open for business" company that gets them dancin' in the streets without a lot of convincing.Along those lines, as the snazzy new badge on my LinkedIn profile now says, I continue to be "#opentowork" -- please reach out and let me know if there is anything I can be doing to help you or your companies as you get back to business as usual.Enjoy the weekend.XOXODave
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FoD #184: open for business?
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We really can convince ourselves of just about anything if we want.I've got good news this week friends: 2020 is just about half over.It is official: as Marvin Gaye originally wrote and Martha Reeve and the Vandellas once sung (and Mick Jagger & David Bowie famously covered), "Summer's here and the time is right for dancin' in the streets."And so many people want us all to be dancin' in the streets right now. Retailers, bars, restaurants, local businesses, higher education institutions, kids and politicians all want the world to hear the call that everything is "open for business."But are they really? Despite us all really wanting and them needing it to be true, are we really ready to be "open for business" across all aspects of our daily lives?I'm reminded of this famous quote from Maya Angelou:When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first timeIt's funny: in addition to the ability to turn the page and look to the future and transport themselves to a happy place, we have seen that humans are pretty good at rationalizing and convincing themselves that things are a certain way when they want them to be.So before you go about convincing yourselves to start dancin' in the proverbial streets, I'd like to you pause for a second. When just about any service, retail store, company, institution, business, governmental agency, etc, you patronized before this all happened tells you they are "open for business," ask yourself this:In these unprecedented times, are they ready to be "open for business"? Were they good at what they did when times weren't unprecedented? Or did you complain about their execution then?Listen to what Maya Angelou said. If you liked them before and they provided value to you, that likely won't change.But if they executed poorly and provided low value before the pandemic, you can sure as hell expect that it will happen again (and very likely, worse) now -- no matter how badly they want you to believe that it will be "business as usual." This includes restaurants, bars, your local stores, universities, employers, companies, etc.I know you want things to get back to normal, but think about it and be skeptical Friends. And look at your own businesses and think about how your customers felt about you before all of this went down. Be the kind of "open for business" company that gets them dancin' in the streets without a lot of convincing.Along those lines, as the snazzy new badge on my LinkedIn profile now says, I continue to be "#opentowork" -- please reach out and let me know if there is anything I can be doing to help you or your companies as you get back to business as usual.Enjoy the weekend.XOXODave