Yesterday, I sent a post to my list and some strange things happened.
I was only able to recognize the problem because someone chose to reach out to me and tell me right away. For that I am grateful.
It turns out the email that I wrote did not save properly, reverted back to an old headline with a typo no less, and even the body of the email appeared to change to an old post.
When we tested it everything looked fine. And, without the immediate feedback I would have never know what happened after we hit send.
Of course, after hearing the feedback, I contacted the providers of my email marketing software to see what was going on. This is a summary of our interaction:
Me: I wrote an email and it didn’t appear to save could you help me retrieve it? I can see the thumbnail so there is likely a version saved in your system.
Support: I’m sorry you have made a mistake saving. What did you do wrong?
Me: I saved on page A, B, and C I’m not sure what happened
Support: I’m sorry you don’t know how to save. Let me walk you through it. Let’s try changing the name of your message.
Me: I’ve done it in another window (Oops, shared too much information here) and the new version seems to work.
Support: Aha!!! You can’t have two windows open at once!!
Me: Well, if I shut down this window the support window will disappear.
Support: No it won’t.
Me (now frustrated): I don’t think you can help me. I’m trying to retrieve an old email and we’re talking about saving a new one. (I give a “thumbs down” support rating)
Support: Wait!! Please let me help you. I can send you an HTML code of the email. Paste it into the HTML reader and it should come up.
Me: Problem solved!
What went wrong?
Well, it appears this person was following the formula they received as a part of their tech support training, assuming the user is limited in their tech savvy.
At some time or another we’ve all heard, “Is your computer plugged in?”
The tech support person started looking for what I did wrong, I ended up explaining myself, and we didn’t even get to solve the problem.
That was until I provided negative feedback, which led to the problem getting solved immediately.
Ultimately we were caught up in a cycle of blaming and explaining.
And here are some of the consequences of the blaming and explaining:
- A problem that could have been solved in 5 minutes took 45 minutes.
- Support got a bad rating from me.
- I’m now sharing with all of you how support was ineffective.
- We both ended up less satisfied with the interaction then we would have if Support went to immediately solving the problem.
The moral:
Focus on problem solving. Assigning blame can lead to a lot of wasted time, negative moods, and bad reputations.
Assume the best, take a problem solving approach, and focus on the outcome you would like to achieve (this works in personal relationships too!). Ultimately “the Why” is in the past so it’s less important.
There is only one time that a little bit of “why” is of value. This occurs specifically when a project has been completed and time is set aside to determine how you and your team can improve how your work together. This is the only time you might look at what went wrong, why, and how to improve. The key here is that the focus is on process. There is no focus on individual capability as anyone qualified for the role should be able to do the work.
Consciously setting aside time to focus on process improvement helps to keep any unintentional finger pointing to a minimum, while keeping everyone happier and engaged in their work.
Which will you choose, blaming or problem solving?
If you are interested in learning more about teams you can apply for a complimentary decision making session here.
If you’re going to have success in your business and achieve your goals you’ll need a few essential pieces. For one, you need intense focus. When you’re focused on a particular outcome you’ve got to be ready to play full out and make a very deep commitment to getting results.
Next you need awareness. What are you doing right and how are you holding yourself back? If you don’t know this you can spend a lot of time working extremely hard with no results, a lot of exhaustion, and a feeling of emptiness inside – “what am I doing wrong?”
Once you’ve developed awareness, it’s all about self-mastery. Having awareness without making the necessary changes will not enhance your life. What are you aware of that you need to change right now?
And, finally it’s about time mastery. It’s about using your time effectively, making fast decisions and commitments and changing your mind slowly. To start getting fast results you’ve got to make fast decisions. If you’re ready to make a life changing decision and get some fast results apply for your complimentary decision-making session immediately. Fast decisions get fast results.
