day 1167: Consistency

"He prayed three times a  day, just as he always had done..."

I was surprised to hear someone I know say (almost bragging) about being, "Consistently inconsistent".  As soon as the words came out of her mouth, her husband validated this with, "And, that is the hardest thing about you".  Wow, that was an honest exchange, and it was out in the open with other people around to hear the disclosures.  This interchange reminded me that if there is anything really hard to manage is consistent inconsistency, because even though you know to never expect the same more than once, knowing that there will always be an unknown to be expected can drive you crazy.  Okay, as we know, our businesses can't run this way, otherwise we would never have a repeat customer and soon we would be out of business.  But, let's think about the fact that inside of our companies there are many people and people like this person who likes to be consistently inconsistent.  Are we to think that these personal trait don't carry over into the work that is being done, work that we expect to be consistently performed?  This is why we must pay attention to the details and continue to simplify and ensure that consistency is designed into our work, so that we remove the risks of inconsistency.  Consistent inconsistency is an ingredient that will spoil any recipe for success.

The account of Daniel in the Bible is a tremendous lesson of consistency.  Daniel conquered many troubles and rose to the top of the organizational chart and through it all he carried consistencies in his life. One being that we learn most; that he prayed three times a day.  When decreed that he couldn't do so any longer, he couldn't stop and so he consistently carried on.  Consistency in our time with the Lord will carry us through the roughest patches and also be a shining example when others are watching how we deal with the troubles in the office and in life.  Trying to develop habits and consistency in the bad times is almost impossible, so now is the time to make consistency a hallmark of who we are so that others can expect that from us.  Our God is consistent, so should we be.

Reference: Daniel 6:10 (New Living Translation)

day 1096: A Cry For Consistency

"Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!"

We all try to be good and to get to be better and better.  Well, let's hope that we all are trying to do this.  But, even as important, or maybe even more importantly, we need to be very consistent in the delivery of our product, service or anything that we do.  In fact, we can be really good at what we do, but if we are inconsistent, then all that good goes out the window. Conversely, we can sometimes be mediocre but because we are consistent, our customers and consumers give us a break and that consistency becomes something they can depend upon. Think about what McDonald's built from consistency.  Are all of their products the best quality, taste, or cost?  Probably not. But, no matter what restaurant you enter in the U.S. and in most places in the world, the products will indeed taste the same with consistent service and offerings. We can learn something from those companies whose hallmark is consistency.

I was struck by this quote about consistency:

When I read it I felt like it was written for me.  God gives us daily the opportunity to be consistent in our testimony and example for Him.  But, just as like a company can lose ground with inconsistency, so can we.  People are drawn to others who display a consistent behavior, action and language pattern. As we know, there is comfort in predictability and to best care for and serve others, we must be accepted and display a certain amount of comfort with others.  As the quote says, each day we get to recreate and continue our consistency. As we finish this week, what is it that we are doing to stay consistent in who we are?

Reference: Psalm 119:5 (New Living Translation)

day 441: A Handshake

Most of the agreements we make at work within the company are done on the equivalent of a handshake. Many a business person from the past has said that they did all of their business on a handshake and the handshake agreement was a contract that wouldn't be broken among honorable people. Few external agreements in today's business are now made without having a written and signed contract. So, the handshake agreement is really only used within work and with our peers and we count on those type of agreements so that we can get our work done predictably and consistently. This is the essence of teamwork; being able to count on each other and know that we each do what we say and can count on each other to follow through. The handshake is a sign of a covenant that we make with each other. God did this too in Genesis 9:17; "Yes, this is the sign of my covenant with all the creatures of the earth." God's handshake with His people comes in the form of a rainbow in the sky. We each can use God's approach with others by ensuring that the commitment that comes with our handshakes of agreement are bound tightly and are as good as any written contract. If we can establish ourselves as being this consistent then when we speak of our faith others will know that when we say something we speak from a place of truth and integrity within our hearts. To work God's purpose on our jobs we must come from a place of our handshake being as true to our word as any legal contract. The long-term impact of our followed through on handshake can be a real difference.

Reference: Genesis 2:17 (New Living Testament)

day 259: Consistently The Same

My wife Patti and I sometimes choose to fly on the redeye, overnight, to the east coast. We do this when we are just going for a short time and don't want to lose a day flying, or when we are flying with Louie, our French Bulldog, so he can sleep overnight. We actually hate the redeyes because even though we save the time, the flights tend to wipe us out physically. That said, when we get on the flight we prepare ourselves to get the best short night of sleep as we can. This last flight, it was hard to get a good sleep as the airline did not have any pillows to provide their passengers. When we asked about this, they said, "we don't know what happened, no overnight flights tonight have pillows, sorry". While it didn't mean that much to the flight attendants, who were going to go through their regular routine, regardless of pillows or not, this inconsistent quality meant much to the passengers who were depending on a pillow as part of the baseline offering and foundational tool for them to gather a few hours of sleep. It would be interesting to understand where the breakdown was in their operating system that allows for them to not have pillows provided, and especially on the redeye flights. As consumers and co-workers we depend on, and expect others to deliver consistent quality and a sameness in their jobs. While the flight attendants seemed nonplussed over the fact that flight operations had not provided pillows, in reality, they had to answer that question over and over on that flight, taking away from the ambiance of service that they were prepared to deliver. And they had to answer for others less than consistent quality of work. This adds a stress to their jobs. Our co-workers and our customers want a consistency from us. They want to know what to expect and then be able to count on a consistent level of delivery and quality. They want the same out of us today as yesterday. Our ability to be consistent and work to a level of predictable quality is an example that we can attain from our Lord. God made sure, even from the beginning that He was the same, day in and day out. And even when humans make mistakes and are the inconsistent link in his quality, He recovers and reinstates His sameness. We see this in the story of the Ten Commandments. When Moses broke the first tablets, God did not start all over, He instead returned to the sameness that was Him. We read in Deuteronomy 10:2 "and I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the ones you smashed. Then place the tablets in the Ark." As humans we want and expect the sameness from each other. While we want to be different and not live and work in the same, a consistent delivery, a sameness can be exactly what others need to work well with us, continue the work started, or even to get a good night's sleep. Think today about how consistently you are delivering the "same" that others need and expect from you.

Reference: Deuteronomy 10:2 (New Living Testament)