Comments on: The Kindness of Strangers http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2008/03/09/the-kindness-of-strangers/ Get Satisfaction's blog Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:39:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.1 By: Rene http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2008/03/09/the-kindness-of-strangers/#comment-1719 Rene Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:52:48 +0000 http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2008/03/09/the-kindness-of-strangers/#comment-1719 I'm reminded of a section in "We-think: Mass Innovation not Mass Production" a book by Mr. Charles Leadbeater. The section heading is "The Beach Ethic" and it goes... "On the most popular beaches people spend all day in close proximity but they are generally civil and considerate. They do not interfere with one another and disputes between neighbours are rare. Excessive noise is frowned upon. People generally avoid stepping on one another’s towels or invading impromptu football pitches. Other than the odd lifeguard to look after safety no one is in authority. Perhaps precisely because there is no one in control people take it upon themselves to self-regulate. Parents look out for one another’s children. Complexity theorist have a fancy name for this: they call it emergence,when an overall order emerges from a system with many participants; no one person is in charge; each participant is adjusting to their local conditions (the people on the towel next to them); yet a stable organisation emerges from these thousands of interconnected decisions." I think Getsatisfaction is one of the nicest beaches around! I’m reminded of a section in “We-think: Mass Innovation not Mass Production” a book by Mr. Charles Leadbeater. The section heading is “The Beach Ethic” and it goes…

“On the most popular beaches people spend all day in close proximity but they are generally civil and considerate. They do not interfere with one another and disputes between neighbours are rare. Excessive noise is frowned upon. People generally avoid stepping on one another’s towels or invading impromptu football pitches. Other than the odd lifeguard to look after safety no one is in authority. Perhaps precisely because there is no one in control people take it upon themselves to self-regulate. Parents look out for one another’s children. Complexity theorist have a fancy name for this: they call it emergence,when an overall order emerges from a system with many participants; no one person is in charge; each participant is adjusting to their local conditions (the people on the towel next to them); yet a stable organisation emerges from these thousands of interconnected decisions.”

I think Getsatisfaction is one of the nicest beaches around!

]]> By: Philip (flip) Kromer http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2008/03/09/the-kindness-of-strangers/#comment-1727 Philip (flip) Kromer Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:36:04 +0000 http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2008/03/09/the-kindness-of-strangers/#comment-1727 This essay ("Why 'The Customer Is Always Right' is wrong") is thought-provoking: http://positivesharing.com/2006/07/why-the-customer-is-always-right-results-in-bad-customer-service/ A friend of mine heads the customer service dept. for a biotech company with a consumer product. She's had repeated interactions with one customer who has flown off the handle a few times -- most recently leaving 20+ voicemail messages in a row over the weekend, dialing random extensions when that didn't work (each time leaving vitriolic diatribes), and finally tracking down someone's home phone! The opportunity cost alone of the two or three days my friend solely devoted to palliating that situation cost more than the whole lifetime of this customer's contract will ever deliver. This essay (”Why ‘The Customer Is Always Right’ is wrong”) is thought-provoking:
http://positivesharing.com/2006/07/why-the-customer-is-always-right-results-in-bad-customer-service/
A friend of mine heads the customer service dept. for a biotech company with a consumer product. She’s had repeated interactions with one customer who has flown off the handle a few times — most recently leaving 20+ voicemail messages in a row over the weekend, dialing random extensions when that didn’t work (each time leaving vitriolic diatribes), and finally tracking down someone’s home phone! The opportunity cost alone of the two or three days my friend solely devoted to palliating that situation cost more than the whole lifetime of this customer’s contract will ever deliver.

]]>