Q is for “Quality Assessment.” For twenty years I have spent my days listening to and analyzing recordings of phone calls (e.g. “Your call may be monitored for quality and training purposes“). I’ve analyzed the calls of sales people, customer service reps, collectors, credit analysts, tech support reps, receptionists, engineers, bankers, 401k specialists, internal help desk reps, and attorneys (just to name a few). At one point I tried to guesstimate the number of phone calls I’d analyzed in my career but when I realized that it was well into the tens of thousands I simply chose to put it out of my mind.
The analysis we do is methodical, objective and thorough. The goal is to mine “moments of truth” when the customer is interacting with our client’s company so we can unearth opportunities to continuously improve the customer experience both from from a communication standpoint (e.g. What the agent says and how he/she says it) and a systemic standpoint (e.g. What policies/procedures aren’t working for the customer?). Because the data is tracked over time we can quantify improvements and declines. Our data and reports are used in executive strategy sessions, shareholder meetings, as well as in front-line performance management sessions.
Our smallest client is a small manufacturing company that began with one guy answering the phone to take orders and provide customer service. Fifteen years later the company leads their niche industry and that one guy is managing a team of six people. We’re still listening, analyzing, and coaching them. With our largest clients we manage the analysis, reporting, training, and coaching of hundreds of agents from multiple teams in different office locations, even in different countries.
Speaking of which, I better finish this post. I have calls to analyze 🙂
P is for Pella, Iowa my hometown for the past decade. It is an amazing, beautiful, quaint, community and I never planned nor imagined myself living here. I have come to fully appreciate all that is special and absolutely unique about it, even those things that drive you absolutely nuts.
This weekend is the annual Pella Tulip Time festival in our hometown of Pella, IA. Each year the community celebrates its Dutch heritage with parades, tours, and plenty of food and dutch treats. And of course, there are tulips, tulips and more tulips. The Tulip Time celebration started back in the 1935.
My grandfather, Herman Vander Well, was raised in northwest Iowa (Boyden/Hull/Rock Valley) and attended Central College in Pella between 1927 and 1929. Several years ago I came into the possession of his college photo album from those years. The black and white pictures were taken with his Kodak Brownie box camera. The album was donated by my family to the archives of Central College some years ago, but I retain the scanned images.
In the photo album there are several pictures of the “Advance” parade/festival that he and fellow Central students participated in on the town square. It was obviously a precursor to Tulip Time. So, for friends in Pella who are celebrating Tulip Time this weekend – here’s a Throwback Thursday to before there was Tulip Time.
My grandfather, Herman Vander Well with friend (unknown).
When teaching my course on creativity I have discovered an almost universal truth: My students all have an intense desire to create and express themselves through their chosen art medium(s) but they almost all don’t do it. As we journey through the course we attempt to excavate the reasons for their artistic timidity, and without fail I discover that most are plagued fear.
Fear of doing it wrong
Fear of not being good enough
Fear of failing at it
Fear of what’s deep inside of me, fear it might come out
Fear of looking silly
Fear of what my parents would say
Fear of what my friends might think
Fear that it will be bad
Circle in the Round (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Throughout the course, as I talk about expressing yourself creatively or artistically, IÂ incessantly quote jazz great Miles Davis:
“There are no wrong notes.”
I was reminded of this yesterday in a Wall Street Journal interview I read with another jazz great, Herbie Hancock, who recently gave a lecture about the wisdom of Miles Davis at Harvard:
Mr. Hancock recounted, for example, one extraordinary moment in Stockholm in 1967, during a performance by the [Miles Davis] quintet. “This night was magical,” he remembered. “We were communicating almost telepathically, playing ‘So What'”—one of the group’s signature pieces. “Wayne [Shorter] had taken his solo. Miles was playing and building and building, and then I played the wrong chord. It was so, so wrong. In an instant, time stood still and I felt totally shattered. Miles took a breath. And then he played this phrase that made my chord right. It didn’t seem possible. I still don’t know how he did it. But Miles hadn’t heard it as a wrong chord—he took it as an unexpected chord. He didn’t judge what I played. To use a Buddhist turn of phrase, he turned poison into medicine.”
Wendy and I talked about this story over breakfast and she reminded me that Davis was simply applying to music a concept that she and I know well from the stage. It’s the concept of “Yes And.” Like a song, a stage performance is usually meticulously orchestrated. Lines and movement are carefully prescribed to deliver the intended effect to the audience. Sometimes, however, something happens on stage which you didn’t expect:
An actor moves to a different place on stage than was rehearsed
An actor completely blanks and can’t remember his or her lines
In the moment of performance when you stand on that stage with the audience watching  you can’t stop the performance to shout “No, but wait! That’s wrong. Let’s go back and try it again.” When the unexpected happens, actors are taught to say “Yes, and I’ll go along with it. I will respond to what just happened so as to make it work into the scene. The concept of “Yes And” is particularly critical for actors who learn improvisational theatre in which there is no script or blocking to follow. You must say “Yes And” to whatever the other person on stage is doing and respond.
When Herbie Hancock played the “wrong” chord Miles Davis said “Yes, and I’m going to change the notes I’m playing to envelope that chord and redeem it. I’m going to make it right. There are no wrong notes.”
I have learned that the concept of “Yes And” goes much deeper than jazz and stage. God, the master artist and Creator, has exemplified “Yes And” in my entire life journey. When I have totally screwed up time and time again God has responded with “Yes, and I’m going to let you learn the hard lessons that come from your choices.” When I have wandered from the path into dark places God has responded with “Yes, and I’m going to ultimately use your experiences to teach you wisdom.” When I make foolish choices God has responded “Yes, and you will find maturity in the dissonance your decisions create.”
“Yes And” applies to the art of daily life. When the fourteen year old says, out of the blue, “I want to go to Thailand next summer” I don’t say “No!” I say, “Yes, and I’m going to help you figure out if you’re really supposed to go.” When friends, spouses, children, or co-workers do the unexpected, there is wisdom in learning to say “Yes, and I’m going to give up my misguided notion that I can somehow control you, make you do my will, or know God’s prescribed path for your life.”
Please don’t read what I’m not writing. Obviously, parents have responsibility to teach our young children well and to protect them with appropriate rules and boundaries. Relationships, like the flow of music or the blocking of a scene, require a give and take between those involved. I have found, however, that when it comes to relationships we are often tempted to eat of the forbidden fruit. We are deceived into thinking that we are the god of our children, our spouses, our friends, and our co-workers.
“No, but I AM the only one who knows what’s best for her.”
“No, but I AM the one who will choose the path for him.”
“No, but I AM the one who has judged correctly.”
“No, but I AM to be obeyed.”
“No, but I AM right.”
I love Herbie Hancock’s story and the wisdom of Miles Davis. When we are raised and enmeshed in the rigidity of a black and white “No But” world we quickly learn to stuff the creative impulses that Creator God knit into our souls when He sculpted us in His own image. We learn to fear the “No, but” which we have been taught will inevitably follow when we play “wrong” notes, paint the “wrong” way, draw outside the lines, or miss an entrance.
When I was younger I thought that the sad result of the Garden of Eden was that we all choose to do “wrong” and “bad” things. The further I get in the journey, the more I’ve come to realize that the true tragedy of The Fall is not the bad things that we do, but our failure to fully realize all that is good and pure and powerful and possible as children of the Creator who said “Yes and let us make man and woman in our image, in our likeness.”
Last Friday I wrote of my limited travels and it got me thinking over the weekend about all of the places I’ve traveled and seen. Among all the places I have been on this Earth, here are five of my favorites places:
Sunrise, Rainy Lake (Photo credit: jck_photos)
5. Rainy Lake, Minnesota: Sentimental reasons. I grew up going to Camp Idlewood with my family two weeks of every year. This is where some of the most glorious memories of my childhood are sourced. It will always hold a dear place in my heart.
Courtyard of the McNay Museum, San Antonio
4. The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX: Sentimental reasons once more. Wendy and I discovered this gem of an art museum on our honeymoon. The courtyard at the McNay is one of my favorite places. I could sit there for hours, and I even get to return there a couple of times a year on my business travels.
3. London, England: I can’t name one place within London. I just loved the whole city: The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, the Globe Theatre, the All England Club, the Tower of London, etc., and etc. Â I can’t wait to return someday.
2. Mount Arbel, Israel:Â Just off the Sea of Galilee, Mt. Arbel is most likely the place referred to when it was written “Jesus went to a mountain side to pray.” From the top of Mount Arbel you can see across the Sea of Galilee and the towns and villages that dot its shores. I looked down and heard Jesus words: “See the fields white unto harvest.” It is a thin place and my brief time there left an indelible impression on me.
1. Vander Well’s Playhouse, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri: There are a number of exciting and exotic places I’ve visited, but as I pondered my favorites – well this special place tops the list. Like Mount Arbel, it is a thin place. So many precious memories of family and friends combine with a place of quiet refuge and retreat. How blessed to be able to return there often! 🙂
This, from a long conversation over cold beer (and cigars) on a hot summers evening with my friend Kevin McQuade, here is the authoritative list of the top Chicago Cubs of all time by position:
Extra bases: After long consideration, Kevin and I also concluded that the number one reason for the Cubs’ 106 year World Series drought is: historically weak pitching.
Last Saturday morning, Wendy and I went out to the local ball diamond to watch my good friend Nathan playing Little League baseball. I grabbed my camera to capture my buddy in action. Anyone who follows my blog knows that Wendy and I love the game of baseball (and our hapless Chicago Cubs). In fact, as time goes by our love and appreciation of the game only seems to grow deeper. We thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous, early summer morning watching Nathan play. It reminded me of all that is great about the game of baseball, and in particular I was reminded of three important life lessons that the game teaches me over and over again.
1. “Everyone strikes out. How you handle it is what makes you a man.”
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.
-from “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Thayer
When my young friend Nathan was just a few years old, Wendy and I gave him a copy of “Casey at the Bat” for his birthday and this was the inscription I penned on the inside cover of Ernest Thayer’s timeless classic. What an amazing word picture of life. The very BEST hitters in the big leagues will fail to get a hit 7 of every 10 attempts. Time and time and time again we will try and fail in life. Those who learn from failure, who dare to walk back up to the plate, who keep swinging despite overwhelming failure will eventually knock one out of the park. You’ll never know the thrill of driving in the winning run if you let failure discourage you from ever trying again.
2. It’s Not About Winning or Losing, but the Joy of Playing the Game.
Wendy and I watched and laughed ourselves silly on Saturday as we watched the young boys of summer doing their best to play and learn the Great American Pastime. I can guarantee you that at the end of the game not one of the li’l sluggers knew the final score of the game. But, as the team ran the bases together at the end of the game the look of joy on their faces was priceless.
I have known many a man who has wasted time, energy and resources in a manic drive to prove to who knows who that he is a “success” through winning every game, closing every deal, burying every enemy, and acquiring every needless possession. Never have I met such a man who experiences a deep, abiding sense of peace, joy, and love. The further I get in this life journey, the more I’m convinced that what is important is not winning every game, but loving every moment.
In similar fashion, those who love the game of baseball understand realize that the game itself transcends wins and losses. Win or lose, an afternoon or evening at the ballpark is time well-spent. As Chicago Cub great Ernie Banks is famed for saying, “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame….let’s play TWO!”
3. The Point is to Make it Safely Home.
As we play the game of life, we will all make our share of errors. We all hit our share of foul balls. We all strike out. But as Yogi Berra said, “the game ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Every baseball fan can share stories of dramatic come from behind wins and walk-off “home runs” in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the end, the goal of the game is to arrive safe at home. Even the Prodigal Son eventually found his way home. Every funeral I’ve ever attended has included a recitation of the 23rd psalm (i.e. “The Lord is my Shepherd….”). The psalm ends with the words “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” In other words, in the end the psalmist finds himself safely home. Baseball not only provides us a word picture for constant reminder, but even shapes home plate like a little house for added effect.
Our friend Nathan may, or may not, play baseball for long. Like millions of American kids (myself included) he may play a year or two of Little League only to hang up his bat and glove until his own children choose to run the bases. The love of baseball, however, lasts a lifetime, as does the life lessons baseball teaches each of us.
You believe that a woman has the right to have medical instruments thrust into her uterus to forcefully extract the undesired beginnings of human life because, if I understand the argument, no one should tell a woman what she can do with her body. But, you want to tell the same woman she can’t buy a Big Gulp from the 7-11 on her way home from the abortion clinic because it’s not good for her?
If you’ve ever wondered where I come up with the images I place into my posts each day, there is a great little free service from Zemanta that comes with any WordPress blog. Zemanta is a little plug in that analyzes what you write and suggests pictures, related posts and tag words. It saves a ton of time scouring the web looking for content related to the post you are writing.
But, Zemanta does have some maddening quirks to it. For a long time I would write my post each morning and the same pictures of Camilla Parker Bowles would pop up in the window of suggested images. Strange. I have nothing against Ms. Bowles but I got a little tired of her face staring at me every morning as I typed my post. Lately, the rogue picture that appears each morning is both humorous and a little disturbing. It’s some lady face down on a stage lifting her back side towards me. Ugh. If I make the mistake of scrolling over the caption I get to read: “God’s Vaginal Liquid Omnipresence baptized us with Her Eternal Divinity tonight.”
Hey, I’m a big boy. I love free speech and Ms. Liquid Vaginal Backside has every right to lift her butt in whatever odd metaphorical way she wants. I’m not offended as much as I am annoyed at having to look at it over my first cup of coffee each morning. I’d just like to be free to block images on Zemanta that I’d prefer they never suggest to me again.
