The Minimalist

I decided to stop by the doughnut shop this morning on the way in to work, figuring I would surprise my co-workers with some 'Sugar-Pills' for breakfast. This isn't something I do very often so I figured it would be a nice gesture, considering what this day meant to me. I waited in line until it was my turn and when the doughnut shop worker asked me what I wanted, I told him that since this was my last day at work, I would like to have a 1-dozen assortment of the most popular types of doughnuts that people buy to surprise my friends at work with.

He said; "Alright", grabbed a doughnut box and began putting Sugar-Pills into the box. I thanked him for his service, paid for my order and when I got to the office and opened the box, this is what my assortment of doughnuts looked like:

Now, this lesson isn't about not getting what I wanted, no sir-ee!

You see, I'm aware that I didn't arduously choose each doughnut and have him place it in the box, so 'this is what I got'. My thoughts are centered around the request I made, the stated reason behind my wanting to bring doughnuts in to work, and the amount of effort put into filling my request.

These days, many people in the service industry have forgotten what it means to actually provide a service. In this instance, I had asked for an assortment that would fit the fact that this was my last day of work at my job and I wanted to bring something in to the office that was popular with other doughnut fans. I had assumed that this would be defined as an assortment of all different kinds of doughnuts with maybe one or two 'repeats'.

Instead, a quick grab of many of the same doughnuts was not an exceptional experience, as might be the perception of the customer.

This is the thing we need to focus on in life. Doing the minimum you can for everything you do, will get you through your life, if only barely. The service of others is more than just giving them what you think is just enough, it is giving them more than basically what they have paid for that puts you one level higher than the rest in your field. This means that when I trusted my 'Doughnut Man' to make a selection of doughnuts for me, I believed in his experience of what would be a box of great doughnuts to share with my friends. The sudden, sad feeling of receiving less than what I had expected when I opened the box and looked inside is a feeling I hope I NEVER instill in any of my friends, family, co-workers and just as importantly, my customers.