I was in Philadelphia (PHL) on a Tuesday morning in early October when one of our non PHL-based Employees came in. He had arrived in PHL late the previous day and had left his laptop on the plane. Hoping to find it before flying back out later that day, he was understandably anxious, and one of our PHL Leaders was doing his best to help him. After a few minutes, however, it appeared that the laptop had "walked off."
This Employee made a perfunctory nod to his role in this – that he had been negligent in leaving his laptop behind – but then proceeded to lay the blame completely at the feet of the PHL Station with the following angry statement (I paraphrase): "In the old days that laptop would never have disappeared. Southwest's Culture sure has changed." The Culture gods, of course, have a sense of humor, for about five minutes later the missing laptop appeared - it had been in a safe all along.
In a sense, of course, this Employee was right. SWA's Culture had changed. Where he was wrong, however, was in thinking that the change was in someone else. PHL Employees had done nothing wrong – in fact, they had taken excellent care of a fellow Employee's valuable property. Where the Culture had changed was, in fact, in him; he assumed, without basis, that our PHL Employees were somehow so devoid of Southwest Spirit that they would steal his laptop; he failed to give them the benefit of the doubt.
For my fellow Employees, the moral of the story is that we are - all of us - responsible for Southwest's Culture every day, in every interaction with a Customer or Employee. Cultural problems are almost never "out there;" they are almost always "in here." If we all focus on the part of the Culture over which we have control – our own behaviors – the rest will tend to take care of itself. If we all obsess about the supposed Cultural failings of "others" while ignoring our own, then will our Culture be in trouble. Let's not let it happen.
Comments
Edward, FANTASTIC post. As usual. Thanks for reminding us to always look for the fault within before we assign blame elsewhere.
Great work, Hyphen! :)
Bill
Thanks for the post Edward - and for the reminder that the Culture of Southwest isn't the work of some mystical culture fairy flying around sprinkling happy dust on everyone. It takes work, and ownership, and a belief in others that they will do the right thing...no matter what. I guess that's why it's called giving someone the "benefit of the doubt."
I admire your honesty and insight.
Edward,
If I may add an extra opinion to your excellent and thought-provoking thread from an "outside" perspective as a Customer, it is also incumbent upon US to "own" our own behaviors too. Too many times, I've seen Customers fail to act responsibly and then try to shift the blame (and a large portion of their guilt) onto a Southwest Employee.
The Customer who arrives late at the airport for a flight and then gets mad that their bag can't be checked onboard five minutes before departure and that they have been "bumped" by the ten-minute rule needs to stop and realize who really caused the problem. Many other examples could be offered, but in general, a lot of folks in today's society have learned to explain their behavior in terms of a reaction to other people's behavior. We blame our shortcomings on our parents and the poor examples that they were for us. We blame co-workers for being so dysfunctional that we can't get anything done at work. And of course, in many of these cases, the culprit is found in the mirror.
Thank you for reminding us that we ALL have a responsibility to each other and to ourselves for our own behavior, attitudes and reactions by which we are known.
Kim
Culture:
Hilton mailed my Blazer, Marriott sent me my wireless card,someone called ICE (In Case of Emergency) from my cell, asked my wife what was my address and mailed my phone that I dropped with just that single call. All of these without asking for postage. On the other hand, on gun point I was asked to give everything that they could lay hand on when I went to get the paper in morning in my own house.
So, even if that lap top would have walked off, it has nothing to do with culture, it will be just one incident and every one needs to view it like that. But I am glad to see a system to have lost and found and that worked well in this case. So no in here or out there, just make sure that when such thing happens, just take care of passanger, own employee or paying customer that require employees. Hey how come number of laughing/jokes is reducing every day (on North East sector) or it just happens in Texas only??
Raj
That also shows the type of passengers that fly SWA. Noone walked off with his laptop.
Kim - Glad you enjoyed it, and I LUV your perspective on the larger issue of personal responsibility. Thanks for sharing it.
Edward...
Edward, after reminding our passengers "please make sure you have all your belongings with you when you leave" - it is always a high to chase someone down to return a personal item. The highest money item was a wallet containing $4,000.00 dollars cash. The gentleman told me he was making a connection and was in a wheel chair. As I ran up the jet way here he came. He was moving under his own steam as if he didn't NEED a wheel chair!
Regarding our changing culture: on occasion I hear "this Company doesn't care about me". I remind them that "this Company" is each one of us - not just the "bosses". The caring begins within our own hearts - like a fax machine caring hearts connect with other caring hearts!
Carole,
Did you ever find that $10 million dollars I left onboard a few years ago? It is getting close to Christmas shopping time, and I wanted to get Brian a bunch of candy corn, but I'm a little short of cash. Even if you can't find ALL of it, a few spare thousand would help...
Kim :-)
GREAT post, Edward! What a terrific reminder for all of us...WE are what makes the Southwest Culture what it is, and we can't look any further than the mirror if we're unhappy with it. THANK YOU!
This is a late reply to this post but I would like to say one thing. If that non PHL SWA employee thinks the SWA culture has gotten so bad, that employee should just quit and seek employment elsewhere. He/she would be happier and that persons negative persona wouldn't be impressed upon other employees. That negative employee leaving the company would be like getting rid of a bad disease, cyst, blood blister, etc......!
This suggestion is for any company with a negative employee.
Tom
Post new comment