The Nashville “MTA” (Metro Transit Authority) bus system has undoubtedly put a LOT of thought into efficiency and timeliness of the buses as they pick up and deliver riders.
Evidently, they also considered ways for these buses not to disrupt the natural flow of auto traffic by creating “Turn-outs” which allow the buses to enter their own lane for pickup/delivery instead of clogging the road.
That painstakingly devised plan isn’t working . . . not because it’s a bad plan, but because:
- the drivers aren’t using the turn-outs and instead are blocking traffic, AND
- the “MTA Marketers” who sell bus bench advertisements have apparently sold a LOT of benches, so there is now a bench on virtually every block of the route instead of just at the turnouts.
So . . . god forbid that you get trapped behind a bus because you’ll stop EVERY block through the most congested area of the city.
A perfectly good plan screwed up.
How often do you set your GPS to “Take you” to your destination and then decide along the way that you know a shortcut and veer off course . . . into a maze of streets you hadn’t anticipated causing a 30 minute delay?
A perfectly good plan screwed up.
You’re cooking and discover you are missing an ingredient, so you make substitution with something else – and the recipe FLOPS?
A perfectly good plan screwed up.
The box says: “Some assembly required – Directions included” and you throw the directions away and assemble the thing only to discover 3 extra parts that seem to be significant?
A perfectly good plan screwed up.
I love creativity and spontaneity as much as anyone, but where do you draw the line?
For sure when I fly on an airplane, I want the pilot to follow the checklist thoroughly.
In your own business . . . How many plans/processes do you spend a lot of time designing only to bypass or short-cut later?
How often are there 2 ways to do things – By the book – or the way WE do it?
If there’s a better way . . . that WORKS . . . why not CHANGE the process/plan and evolve the system?
If it’s NOT a better way, don’t DO it!
What REALLY got me on this rant?
As I passed that bus that had used the turn-out lane, I noticed the driver fully engaged in tapping a TEXT message.
WOW!
At Pareto Realty In everything we do as we serve home buyers and Sellers, we develop what we call “Leverage checklists” . . . intended to help us professionals stay on a path of continuous improvement. We do this so we can avoid the pitfall of “recreating the wheel” with each transaction.
As we “manualize” our activities and study what works (and what doesn’t), we also learn from each other’s foibles.
It’s all about being INTENTIONAL in everything we do.
How are YOU maintaining and improving your consistency and service to your clients?
Is this an occasional/accidental practice?
or is it on purpose?