#108: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shot' #7

Here is Dr Wally’s Parting Shot #7: If you have low morale, it’s yours.

Many managers think that their job includes dealing with employee morale. It should not. A manager’s role is to get the work done, not to make employees happy.

Yes, it does seem as if low morale results in low productivity. But the opposite does not necessarily apply. Happy people might still not get much work done.

Let me remind you that morale refers to a state of mind. The word is related to ‘moral’, which has to do with character or disposition. In other words, your state of mind about your job will determine your morale. And a key aspect of this is whether you find your work interesting or not.

If you don’t find your work interesting, take responsibility for changing it. Improve your work and your morale will improve.

Remember, if you have low morale, take care of it. It’s yours, not mine.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#107: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shot' #6

Here is Dr Wally’s Parting Shot #6: Every system has an error rate.

This is not the same as Murphy’s Law which states that if anything can go wrong, it will. This is about the fact that systems are inherently unstable. There are two main reasons for this — nothing is perfect and things change. This instability can result in random errors, making it almost impossible to trace the cause – and also making any attempt to do so a waste of time and effort.

So, what should you do when a random error strikes? Be prepared to react and to make adjustments. Above all, don’t become frustrated. Instead, be resilient. Be willing to adapt and to carry on.

You may never find the cause of a random error. But if you do, then you must fix it. Because, as Orlando Battista pointed out, "An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#106: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shot' #5

Here is Dr Wally’s Parting Shot #5: Loyal customers are far more important than satisfied customers.

Did you know that customer satisfaction can kill your organization? This happens when you spend more on keeping your customers satisfied than they spend with you. And when you go out of business, you have actually provided the worst possible service to those customers who have been loyal to you all along.

The problem is that there is no simple way to measure customer satisfaction. People have different needs which translate into different levels of satisfaction. This means that some of your customers will never be satisfied. On the other hand, it is easy to measure loyalty – how often does this customer spend money with us?

Loyal customers tend to cost less than satisfied customers. An obvious reason is that it is cheaper to keep an existing customer than to compete for new customers. Less obvious is that loyal customers are more forgiving when you make mistakes.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#105: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shot' #4

Here’s Dr Wally’s Parting Shot #4: Don’t talk about people’s attitudes; talk about their behaviors.

Tell me, what is a bad attitude? Be careful now. Everyone thinks their attitude is good, even you do. If I told you had a bad attitude, you would disagree. The reason is that attitude is a perception.

The word ‘attitude’ triggers defensive reactions because it draws attention to the individual rather than to the problem. The problem is the individual’s ‘behavior’, not his attitude.

Attitude doesn’t get work done. Behavior does. It is irrelevant whether you wear a frown, ignore your coworkers, or dislike your job, unless these affect the work to be done. Attitude is not the issue; work is the issue. The question you should ask is, how do these behaviors affect the work?

Are you responsible for how others feel? No. You are responsible to get the work done.



I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#104: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shot' #3

Here is Dr Wally’s Parting Shot #3: Today’s youth are more knowledgeable but not necessarily more mature.

Why do we get annoyed with the younger generation? Surely, with centuries of documented history, we should expect each generation to behave differently. But are they really different? Here is what Dr Wally said: “They’re younger than we are. That’s about all. After spending almost thirty years in college classrooms, I don’t feel freshmen differed much from year to year or over the years.”

Dr Wally did concede that today’s youth are more knowledgeable. I think we get annoyed because they behave as if more knowledge means greater maturity. At our age, we have learned not to equate knowledge with maturity.

Maturity comes from making mistakes. The youth today must make their own mistakes as they apply their greater knowledge. That’s how we did it and we annoyed our parents doing it. Now it’s the next generation’s turn. Let them get on with it.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#103: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shot' #2

Here’s Dr Wally’s Parting Shot #2: Any thing worth doing is worth doing poorly.

Did you get that? Any thing worth doing is worth doing poorly.

Attempting to do something worthwhile always carries the risk of failure. The only way to be sure is to try. However, when your fear of failure stops you even trying, then you have failed before you have even started.

In fact, it’s worse than that. You have also stunted your development. Why? Because if you don’t even try, then you won’t make mistakes. And making mistakes is the quickest way to learn.

How often did you fall down when you first learned to walk? Enough times, surely, for you to know that early stages of development are always perilous.

If at first you don’t succeed, don’t try and try. Instead try to fail quickly, then try something else. Failure is merely an opportunity to move on to something new.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#102: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shot' #1

Here’s Dr Wally’s Parting Shot #1: Short-term pain is better than long-term pain.

Come on! This is obvious. Or is it? When was the last time you willingly suffered toothache rather than a brief visit to the dentist?

Clearly, there are examples where the implications of enduring unnecessary long-term pain are far more serious. Like your job. Are you really happy in your job?

You probably express fairly positive views about your job because when you admit to being dissatisfied, you will feel psychological pressure to do something about it. We all tend to take the path of least resistance, and so it will be easier for you to change your perceptions about your job than to find a new one. That is how you drift into long-term pain at work.

Please don’t. Take the short-term pain now and find something more rewarding. Before it’s too late.

Always take short-term pain. It’s over with.



I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#101: Dr Wally's 'Parting Shots'

Before Dr Wally died he recorded a video, which he called “parting shots”. This was shown at his self-titled “going away party”. The two of us also planned that I would share his eight parting shots with you and give you my interpretation of each.

So that’s what you can expect to hear over the next Mondays and Saturdays. Here they are:

# 1. Short-term pain is better than long-term pain.
# 2. Any thing worth doing is worth doing poorly.
# 3. Today’s youth are more knowledgeable but not necessarily more mature.
# 4. Don’t talk about people’s attitudes; talk about their behaviors.
# 5. Loyal customers are far more important than satisfied customers.
# 6. Every system has an error rate.
# 7. If you have low morale, it’s yours, not mine.
# 8. Don’t work hard, work SMART!

More on Saturday.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#100: Make your point quickly

One year ago I did my first broadcast standing in for Dr Wally. His instructions were simple, but brutal. I had 60 seconds on air to make my point. No more. No less.

In making these recordings, I experienced a relatively unknown law of nonsense. It takes much longer to listen to a 60-second-recording than it takes to speak it! When you must say something meaningful within a specified time limited, time speeds up and you run out of time before you run out of words.

I now understand what Pascal meant when he wrote this line to a friend: I have made this letter longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

Standing in for Dr Wally has taught me what I wish everybody would apply in meetings: have a point, make it and shut up. The only way to get that right is to prepare before the meeting, not in the meeting.

Thank’s for the lesson, Dr Wally.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am