The Importance of Small and Simple Things

Frequently, I read or see something that infests my thoughts and shades my observations for days, or weeks – or life! Those things often find their way into my writing.

Since Saturday it is and has been: Club Sandwiches!

I’ve previously mentioned Tyler Brûlè – the talented editor of Monocle, and his column in the Financial Times. He is always though-provoking, but last Saturday (Come on hotels, use your loaf, - linked to the right of this commentary) Mr. Brûlè introduced a “yardstick” for determining the performance level of a hotel based upon their execution of the Club Sandwich.

Why? Because it is one of those small and simple things, and if they can’t get the seemingly trivial and allegedly easy right, the rest isn’t going to be any better – at least not consistently or long.

Since I am not an hotelier, this led me to ponder the identity and nature of the “club sandwich” in my own business and life. While I ask myself searching questions spurred by the Mr. Brûlé’s comments, I offer them to you too:

“What is the ‘club sandwich’ (i.e. basic, seemingly trivial, and supposedly easy) in my service, industry or business?”

“How consistently well are we making and delivering those ‘club sandwiches?”

“How is the value of that ‘club sandwich’ perceived by our ‘diners’?”

“Where are the gaps?”

“What must I do to close those gaps?” (And please Lon, don’t simply answer, “Employee Training” or “Process Improvement!”)

Effective Next Steps
Last evening, while chairing a board meeting for a mid-sized Utah credit union, and receiving reports from our excellent, but somewhat insulated, senior staff, I was reminded just how difficult receiving and using feedback can be for an organization unused to seeking, receiving and acting on it.

Something I now see as universal in our human nature bristles at criticism or even suggestions. This defensive mechanism often stops us from formulating truly effective next steps.

Often, the feedback received does not fit our own experience. Too often, the anecdotal experiences of one can nullify data that conflicts with it. This can be especially pervasive among senior leaders in an organization.

We may understand that our executives are not the target demographic – or even a customer of a firm, but they often become a “focus–group of one” that overpowers customer complaint data.

Once you have figured out what your club sandwich is, and while you are ordering, tasting and critiquing that experience, remember your experience is no substitute for the feedback of your customer.

Base your next steps on customer perceptions and not on your own very singular (and perhaps “special”) experience.

That is unless, of course, you are planning to buy and eat each and every club sandwich yourself. Otherwise, your opinion should carry no more weight than one data point on the overall plot.

And perhaps, for a lot of possible reasons, you are the outlier.