My smart phone (like any other smart phones out there) has a program that checks spelling.
Call it spell check or intuitive keyboard, but regardless of its name, it should check the spellings correctly. But more often than not, instead of having decent messages, I’m getting a lot of embarrassing SMS spelled “correctly.”
Once, I sent a message to my friend, I typed ‘I will call you’ and hit send. But when I glanced back, I was horrified to see the words turned out to be ‘I will kill you’ instead. Accident that may be, it was still mortifying.
The same thing happened between me and Dr. Ravi Zacharias –my mentor. I intended to type the message, “If there is anything I can do for you here in our country, I am just a mouse click away.” When I put on my reading glasses much later, it was only then that I noticed what came out, “I am just a mouse chicken away,” then I quickly apologized. Dr. Ravi answered, “And I thought that was Filipino slang for something that is immediate and instant.” Information Technology, indeed, could be so embarrassing.
Some people do things that do not conform to logic. How could I have sent a message supposedly “checked” by a “spell checker” but still be wrong?
There is also a form of illogical behavior when it comes to engaging business.
Some people start their own companies without actually having read a book about starting and keeping a company.
Some business people continue to experience a drop in sales, yet they never bother to read a book on how to counter it.
Many business establishments receive negative reviews about their bad service but some of them still refuse to study good customer service. That or they choose to ignore the problem rather than address it.
And yet, when you think about it, basic business knowledge is readily available. There are numerous books on entrepreneurship, customer service and sales. And what more if there are hundreds of existing business consultants who can provide the training for improvement.
Some things are hard to understand.
There are people who do not return phone calls in a timely manner. You only call them if the matter is important, yet they are still hard to reach and do not even return your calls.
I know a person who has the reputation of rarely answering calls and emails, and in the age of “real-time” processing, I wonder how this person can stay in position. It is hard to understand.
And then there are those who want a promotion and pay increase. They demand more respect and higher positions, yet they show up late and put minimum effort. Some things really are hard to understand.
Businesses exist in order to add value to the market place through meaningful transactions and profits.
Now, here are the undeniable facts.
The most profitable companies do their best to serve their customers well. They achieve high profitability by employing people who are competent and high-level performers. These people perform in a degree of excellence capable of ensuring their strong stand in the competitive industry.
Successful business leaders provide training to their leaders and key performers because they know that the business landscape continues to change and they need people who are agile and flexible. And those who never invest in training still have their senior members competing against each other, fighting over turf instead of working together.
People drink and drive, then get into accidents yet they want to sue the party they aggravated. They want to have successful family lives, but they aren’t faithful to their partners. They hardly spend time with their kids ,yet they wonder why life is cruel and unfair. They say they want to improve, but they spend more time on digital games, pointless movies and programs than on books or CD’s about improvement.
Some things are hard to understand.
I believe that we need to embrace humility, continue to learn and improve. We have to consider others better and invest in personal growth and training even if they aren’t provided; we need to seek improvement.
And sure, we will continue to make mistakes, but at least these would become intelligent mistakes that will somehow prepare us to become better.
Now, this is not hard to understand.
(Mark your calendars. Spend two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills as he present Level Up Leadership on Sept. 23-24 at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 for details.)