Want Fries With That?
"When I go to a restaurant they don't give me 'kind of' a cheeseburger. They don't come out 4 minutes after I have started eating with the tomatoes, and cheese. The same goes for what we do in financial reporting. We need to strive each day to produce an exceptional, and complete work product, not a work product that is 'kind of' done."
- Mark A. Davis, Controller of GenCap Financial
Back when I was playing tennis, we had a guy on our team who was very specific about his food. Asaf had served in the Israeli Defense Forces before coming to San Francisco to play on our team. I'm not sure if he had always been particular about his food, or if this was something that had developed while he was being shot at, jumping out of planes, or being shelled by artillery at close range. Irregardless, each time we would go out as a team, they would always screw up his order.
One time we were at McDonald's and they screwed up his order three times in a row. Each time the burger came out with the supposed corrections, it was still not up to par. Asaf insisted upon speaking to the manager. When the manager came out, he gave him a hard look in the eye, and said, "This is not what I ordered. I need you to fix it right now." Needless to say, he finally got what he wanted, but not without a lot of commotion, which brings me to my topic for the day.
Last week I went over some work stuff with my friend Mark Davis, we talked about adjustments and so forth, and then he got out his soapbox. Personally, I always enjoy this. Mark is not only a talented accountant, but he also has a solid grasp of what it means to be a professional. For a few minutes he went on about how we need to really put all our energy into one's work each day if we want to do something at a high-level. He talked about being proactive in handling our challenges before they become challenges, i.e. proper planning, and organization. One of the things that he hit on was taking inventory of the things that inhibit a person from doing their best each day, and then working on eliminating those. I was really fired up, and made a list of the aforementioned things:
- Mark A. Davis, Controller of GenCap Financial
Back when I was playing tennis, we had a guy on our team who was very specific about his food. Asaf had served in the Israeli Defense Forces before coming to San Francisco to play on our team. I'm not sure if he had always been particular about his food, or if this was something that had developed while he was being shot at, jumping out of planes, or being shelled by artillery at close range. Irregardless, each time we would go out as a team, they would always screw up his order.
One time we were at McDonald's and they screwed up his order three times in a row. Each time the burger came out with the supposed corrections, it was still not up to par. Asaf insisted upon speaking to the manager. When the manager came out, he gave him a hard look in the eye, and said, "This is not what I ordered. I need you to fix it right now." Needless to say, he finally got what he wanted, but not without a lot of commotion, which brings me to my topic for the day.
Last week I went over some work stuff with my friend Mark Davis, we talked about adjustments and so forth, and then he got out his soapbox. Personally, I always enjoy this. Mark is not only a talented accountant, but he also has a solid grasp of what it means to be a professional. For a few minutes he went on about how we need to really put all our energy into one's work each day if we want to do something at a high-level. He talked about being proactive in handling our challenges before they become challenges, i.e. proper planning, and organization. One of the things that he hit on was taking inventory of the things that inhibit a person from doing their best each day, and then working on eliminating those. I was really fired up, and made a list of the aforementioned things:
- Not taking enough rest on the weekends
- Not getting 8 hours of sleep during the work night
- Eating too much as well as eating unhealthy food at lunch
- Setting unrealistic expectations, and getting upset when I don't achieve these things
- Rushing to get things done, instead of moving slowly
- Setting a time horizon that is too short
These are the things that jumped out at me. There are probably others that I do each day that hold me back. I'm sure that more things will pop-up once I figure out how to better deal with the aforementioned six. This is going to be my work for the next few months.
So those are my thoughts for today. As always, I'd love to hear what the individuals in the peanut gallery have to say about this.
Namaste
posted by Zen_Accountant at 9:45 PM
1 Comments:
Peanut gallery? I resent that. I see myself more as a Popcorn gallery...or maybe just a nut gallery but certainly not a peanut gallery.
Your burger story describes my father to a tee. He hates, despises, and detests pickles. I'm not exaggerating when I say if pickles were the last food on earth, he would die before eating one. I have watched him wash a burger with soap and water to get the pickle juice off.
Anyway we were at Burger King and they put pickles on it after he had clearly asked them not to. He sent it back. It came back with pickles. He sent it back. It came back with pickles. He demanded the manager and went behind the counter to watch the manager make it. The first thing the manager did was put pickles on it.
Your boss sounds like he knows his stuff. That is all good advice that is much easier said than done. It takes a lot of energy to work that way. Sometimes we just don't have it.
MAD
Post a Comment
<< Home