April 4, 2022

The equality of unequals

You know your clients are individuals.  With individual personalities, character traits and preferences.   You know that what delights one won’t delight another.

You also know that you want them all to be delighted by your service.   You want an equality of result, and you recognise that using exactly equal means won’t deliver that.

In the same way, you know that your people are individuals, with individual personalities, character traits and preferences.   That what delights one won’t delight another.   Yet you want all of them to be delighted to work here, because that’s how they are motivated to delight your clients.   You want an equality of result, and you recognise that using exactly equal means won’t deliver that.

“But how do I keep things consistent?” 

By setting boundaries for behaviour, a floor for what has to be done, then giving your people free play to experiment and explore what delight means to them and to clients.

Doing exactly the same thing every time is what machines do.   Cookie-cutting is an efficient way to produce to a minimum standard at scale, but it’s rarely a delightful experience.

Equality doesn’t have to mean treating everyone the same, it can be about doing whatever it takes to produce the same outcome.  And if a delighted human is your desired outcome, delighted, free-playing humans are your best means of achieving it.