The Path of Most Resistance

By Laurie Clarke,  COO, The Tatham Group

As I’m about to become a new parent, I am receiving a lot of parenting tips and advice.  Some I seek.  Most are offered upon spotting my unmistakable baby bump.  I have stopped wasting my time explaining to these many strangers that they are not considering the customer, me, when they share horror stories or unsolicited advice on how to avoid their mistakes or replicate their successes.

Setting my customer focus issues aside, I decided to go with the flow. I am a firm believer that everyone can teach you something and the collective knowledge of hundreds of parents must be greater than my own.  I made the decision to block out anything that will worry or terrify me and accept the other advice for consideration.

Of course, my Tatham mind kicks in and I start to turn these encounters into an opportunity.  I began to ask questions and categorize the answers.  Very quickly I saw a pattern.  The biggest regrets were other people’s biggest success – a parent must always follow the path of most resistance.

The Future Is Friendly

By Michael Tatham Jr, President, The Tatham Group

Are the members of Generation Y lazy or just searching for an environment to thrive in?

 The late 1990’s introduced an environment that expected more of Generation Y, the group that falls into the approximate birth timeline of 1980-1999.  This was a time when technology and more specifically the Dot Com phenomenon began. According to Wikipedia: “They needed to be faster and more efficient (with the advent of better technology), smarter (increase in college enrollment), and available (40-60 hour work weeks) than Boomers and Gen X. Therefore some of the defining characteristics of Gen Y are tech-savviness, family-centric, achievement-oriented, team-oriented and attention-craving”.  

That’s Just The Way We Do Things Here

Check out this great blog post by Glenn Whitfield: Process Improvement – Been there, done that. Have you Really?  Couldn’t say it better ourselves.

What’s your ripple effect?

They say if a butterfly flutters its wings in Brazil, it creates a breeze, then a wind, eventually fuelling a storm on the other side of the world. Commonly known as “The Butterfly Effect”, it suggests that everything is connected to everything; where even the smallest change can have enormous consequences.

“Anyone who runs a business should see where our garbage goes,” says Remi Cormier, president of R.Environs, a sustainable landscape design company. “It will change the way you manage waste forever.” On a cold, rainy afternoon, we’re driving through mounds of debris. The smell is so putrid I clamp my nose to suppress my gag reflexes from actually doing their job.

Six months ago, the young entrepreneur challenged me to visit the city’s landfill so I could see what happens when my trash lands at the curb. He argued that, “Even though we’ve found creative ways to deal with waste, it’s not enough. Real change happens when we see how all of our actions are connected.”

Doing the right thing for your business…

…MEANS DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR YOUR CUSTOMER FIRST

One of the fastest growing priorities in the business world today is how companies can be more responsible. Even though people want to produce cheaper, faster, better and more efficiently, many are also asking, but at what cost?

In fact, the world’s collective consciousness is waking up to the enormous impact that capitalism is having on the environment and society. More and more, we are choosing to support companies that reinvest in the community, rather than those who simply seek profits.

Here’s a tip about customer service…

Last December, I was whisked off to the Caribbean for a week-long birthday vacation. Truly – there was no better way to celebrate my birthday than sipping a Corona on a pristine white beach off the coast of Mexico, while listening to waves crash.

There was, however (and there always is a ‘but’), one small detail that put a damper on things: all the extra hidden costs!

We signed up for a promotion that touted this great deal: for the bargain price of $800 USD, two people could stay in Florida for two nights, take a four-day cruise to Mexico and then spend one more night in Florida. The only catch was that we had to get ourselves there and listen to a time share presentation. “No sweat,” we thought, and off we went.

Ensuring a Policy for Success

The following post is a story from our very first newsletter published a year ago. Since then, Equitable Life has continued to reap the benefits of applying The Tatham Method to their operations, and has continued training its employees to think differently, to challenge status quo and to always improve the customer experience. Here is their story:

Kitchener-Waterloo, July 2007 – In just two short years, Equitable Life of Canada (Equitable) has gained more than 30% in capacity and productivity in the areas that they focused on. It has achieved at least $785,000 in savings annually and is transforming its culture to being a flexible, customer-centric, demand-driven company.

While to some these improvements may seem bland, for Equitable – a well-established mutual life insurance company based in Waterloo, Ont. – they translate into much more: an improved work environment, happier customers, consistent results and streamlined activity — and that, is priceless.

The secret? It’s in two words: Boot Camp.

I hate to dissappoint you, but…

“…I don’t have a solution for you. My suggestion would be that you come up with it yourself.”

That was this gist of my conversation with an acquaintance this weekend at a holiday party. I realize this answer is not terribly polite, but before you decide it’s because I had too much spiked eggnog, allow me to explain. The preceding conversation – like most party small talk – went something like this:

The dreaded “P” word…

I have a confession to make: I’m addicted to finding new words.

Not just any words, but rather ones that are simple and elegant – like ‘august’, ‘brisk’ or ‘misanthrope’. They bring colour and life to any sentence without complicating it.

Yet despite my love affair with the thesaurus, I’ve managed to develop a strong disdain for pompous jargon. Among these words are “distribution channels” or “undertaken” or “procedure”. They sully our perfectly good language and provide little value to the message.

With a strong aversion to jargon, you can just imagine how I felt when I first started working for The Tatham Group. All day long I would hear the word “business process” and each time someone said it, I would cringe at the thought of having to discuss something so bureaucratic. I mean, could there be anything more…boring?

You’ve Got Mail!

Late one morning in the dead of summer, I checked the mail at the front door of our Madison Avenue office. Strewn among letters, flyers and magazines was a mysterious little black book with a bold claim: “Master your Whole Life” by Bob Reed.

Master my whole life in 120 pages? Yeah right. I can’t even master my day in 120 pages! Nevertheless, curiosity got the better of me and I flipped open to the first page.