What Do You Think?

These days the lodge team is having quite a few discussions about how we tap into the potential of Generation Y (also known as the Millennial Generation); those born between the 1980's and the year 2000. We question if their educational experience has properly equipped some of them to become great decision makers.

For example, last week while in the drive-thru of a local fast food restaurant, I recognized the person in the car behind me as a business acquaintance. At the payment window I asked the twenty-something cashier if I could pay the ticket for the person in the next car with my own. The cashier agreed to my request, and proceeded to ring up both bills for me to pay.  It is at this point that the train went off the track.  I was given my food, and then asked if I would also like my acquaintance's food. I said I thought he might be a little angry if I drove off with his food, and that it was my intention to buy his lunch, not take his lunch.

That encounter gave me quite a few good chuckles, but it also made me question the cashier's actions. Could it be that my request was outside the parameters of her employer's routine training, and caught off guard it revealed she does not have the skills to think on her feet?  Have we simplified expectations to the point where some employees are treated like machines that can be programmed like robots?

The ability to solve problems quickly is learned, not taught. It is the skill set acquired as we learn to identify a desired end, and figure out how to work towards achieving a positive end result.  Great businesses are able to grow and adapt to change because their staff is trained to recognize challenges and quickly work to bring immediate solutions. 

At the Lodge our goal is systems within our cultural parameters that allow team members a voice in how we work through issues and reach expected ends. From the ground floor up, everyone should be a problem solver. For us, graduating up the company ladder is as simple as finding larger solutions to bigger issues.

The privilege of becoming great will go to companies that inspire and equip their teams to think their way to great solutions.