Trust in Business: I’ll Take a Thief . . .
View CommentsMy mother always said she’d take a thief over a liar, because with a thief you always know what he took. . . . .
Today Seth talks about clocks and promises. He tells the story of a man who was promised a gift card if he waited over ten minutes for his transaction at Sears to be completed.
A timer was set when his transaction began. It stopped cold at 9 minutes 30 seconds. The transaction wasn’t complete until 15 minutes after that. Asking to see a manager about the discrepancy was no help. The timer wasn’t broken. The repair team had manipulated it.
According to the timer, the promise was kept. No gift card was handed over to the man in question. In fact, a sign on the way out congratulated the team for serving everyone in under 10 minutes.
Were you thinking of the worldwide definition of time when you heard the promise? I’m sorry that you got that wrong.
My mother always said she’d take a thief over a liar . . . and every kid knows if you break a promise you can’t be trusted for anything.
If you’re going to lie to me, please have the decency to be convincing long enough for me to get out the door.
Do you think that man will return to Sears again? Do you think that I will go there anymore?
I’ll take the thief. Thank you.
Liz Strauss
Behind every Successful business is an Outstanding Manager. — PVM
See also Work with Liz! at Successful Blog
