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Competent / Incompetent
6/7/07 07:32Taxi service #1, used when my car was in the shop:
-Hi, it's 8:50, I reserved a taxi for 8:30 and I'm wondering...
-You weren't there.
-Yes I was.
-He was waiting since 8:25.
-I was waiting since 8:15.
-We called your cell phone twice.
-It didn't ring. It was on.
-We called it.
-Well, it was on, and it didn't ring.
-We called XX2-XXYY.
-No, XX3-XXYY.
-You said XX2.
-No I didn't.
-Yes you did.
(they hang up).
(The taxi did pick me up later; the guy drove 80 miles an hour and talked on his cell phone.)
Taxi service #2, which will hopefully get me to the airport without incident:
-So that's XX3-XXYY?
-Right.
-XX3-XXYY?
-Yes, that's right.
-XX3-XXYY?
-Correct. (Rinse and repeat with address).
The thing that struck me as I started my Very First Real Job was how easy it is to make mistakes on a fairly regular basis, not because I'm not competent but because if you have a hundred little tasks during the day, once in a while you'll let your attention slip. (I like the 'critical failure' concept from roleplaying cames. Sometimes, the 'really bad thing happens NOW' number comes up, and it just...happens.)
So when I'm on the customer end, I do try to keep in mind that sometimes you're just the person on whom the randomly generated incompetence happens to fall, and it's not worth getting worked up about. But at the same time, I think this is a good example of how you need not just competent people but also competent systems, competent policies, ways to ensure that if you screw up it gets caught and fixed and... preferably without calling the customer a liar.
-Hi, it's 8:50, I reserved a taxi for 8:30 and I'm wondering...
-You weren't there.
-Yes I was.
-He was waiting since 8:25.
-I was waiting since 8:15.
-We called your cell phone twice.
-It didn't ring. It was on.
-We called it.
-Well, it was on, and it didn't ring.
-We called XX2-XXYY.
-No, XX3-XXYY.
-You said XX2.
-No I didn't.
-Yes you did.
(they hang up).
(The taxi did pick me up later; the guy drove 80 miles an hour and talked on his cell phone.)
Taxi service #2, which will hopefully get me to the airport without incident:
-So that's XX3-XXYY?
-Right.
-XX3-XXYY?
-Yes, that's right.
-XX3-XXYY?
-Correct. (Rinse and repeat with address).
The thing that struck me as I started my Very First Real Job was how easy it is to make mistakes on a fairly regular basis, not because I'm not competent but because if you have a hundred little tasks during the day, once in a while you'll let your attention slip. (I like the 'critical failure' concept from roleplaying cames. Sometimes, the 'really bad thing happens NOW' number comes up, and it just...happens.)
So when I'm on the customer end, I do try to keep in mind that sometimes you're just the person on whom the randomly generated incompetence happens to fall, and it's not worth getting worked up about. But at the same time, I think this is a good example of how you need not just competent people but also competent systems, competent policies, ways to ensure that if you screw up it gets caught and fixed and... preferably without calling the customer a liar.