The Contented Cow Blog

Building Workplaces That Work

My daughter Lindsay just Skyped me from her dorm room in Scotland (If you don’t know what Skype is, you oughta find out) to ask me to send her something from home. This is not the first such call we’ve had in the month she’s been away on this study-abroad program.

On this call, she was pleading that I send her as many boxes as economically feasible of Kraft Instant Macaroni and Cheese.

My wife’s a native Scot, and for that reason, all of us, including Lindsay, have spent a fair amount of time in that country over the years. The British have no shortage of scrumptious processed foods, but boxed instant mac and cheese hasn’t made it big there yet. Indeed, Kraft sells its M&C in the UK, but apparently it can’t be found in the part of Scotland where Lindsay’s studying (I’m convinced she is studying.) 

Lindsay said she hadn’t realized how much she enjoyed Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and was surprised at how much she missed it, calling it “one of life’s simple pleasures”. “I’m really not very high-maintenance, Dad,” she assured me.

“I guess I just took macaroni and cheese for granted. This experience has taught me to appreciate it.”

Twelve grand for an international cultural/educational experience, and she develops an appreciation for American staple foods.

I told her I could relate to missing something (someone), and learned that I had perhaps taken her daily presence in the house for the last nearly 20 years for granted as well.

She told a few of her British friends that she was Jonesing for some KM&C, and several of them, having visited the states, remembered it with great fondness, and wanted to get in on the action as well. So they pooled their meager resources and placed an order with me. We’ll be taking it to the post office today.

Is there something - or someone - in your life, at work, at home, or elsewhere, that you’ve taken for granted, but that you would miss if it/he/she weren’t there? Someone who makes your job, and/or your life a little easier?

One thing we heard expressed in clear and compelling terms while we were researching our latest book, Contented Cows MOOve Faster, is this: One of the clearest paths to getting people to withhold a measure of their Discretionary Effort, to power back a notch or two, is to take them for granted.

Before the day is out, do this: think of at least one person you would miss if they weren’t in your life. It doesn’t have to be a loved one. Just somebody you’d miss. You’d miss them even more than my daughter misses Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Tell them so, and to show your appreciation for them, maybe arrange for them to have something really special to eat - something they don’t often get, and definitely don’t take for granted.

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and his co-author and business partner Bill Catlette, are the authors of the new book Contented Cows MOOve Faster, as well as the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.