MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS

by Don Taylor

Don Taylor is president and CEO of Data Staar Communications in Amarillo, Texas, and co-author of Up Against the Wal-Marts and Solid Gold Success Strategies For Your Business. He can be reached at P.O. Box 67, Amarillo, TX 79105.

Common sense is the ability to look at a situation we are in and do what ought to be done. Unfortunately, common sense isn't as common as it should be.

Business nonsense is either becoming more common or I'm becoming more aware of it. Either way, it's worth drawing your attention to.

Business nonsense can become an accepted practice if enough businesses buy into it. Anatole France said, "If 50 million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." However, all too often nonsensical actions become common practice and are substituted for logical actions.

Take, for instance, the problems we had getting a computer we ordered shipped to our office in a prompt manner. When the company finally did ship it, it was the wrong one. And the exchange process was not easy.

The first problem involved a lack of common sense on the part of the company - it was shocked that we had broken the security seal to open a computer box that wasn't ours. Common sense should tell you - unless you are telepathic - that you must open the box to see if what's in it is what you ordered. When the box is addressed to your firm, you can only assume it is yours.

A second event clearly illustrated more business nonsense on the part of the computer company: it sent us an invoice for 18 cents for a poster that was missing when we returned the misshipped computer. That's right, they spent 33 cents on postage to send out an 18-cent invoice. If you factor in the time, materials and cost of creating and sending an 18-cent invoice, you will come up with a classic case of business nonsense.

Here's another example. An extra-value meal at my favorite fast-food stop includes a small coffee. But, if you win a free value meal in a promotion game and want to change the drink to a large soft drink, you must pay full price for the soft drink. Where did the 59-cent coffee value go? It's nonsense.

Another bit of business idiocy is the procedure at some wholesale clubs. First, you wait in a long line to check out. Then, 10 feet from where you just paid, another employee takes your receipt and checks it against the items in your cart. More nonsense.

Has business nonsense invaded your company? Here's how to tell:

· Look for "we've always done it this way" practices. If you don't have a good reason for any business activity other than it is the standard routine, don't continue to do it. Evaluate all standard practices and change them when a better way is found. Look hard for better ways.

· Ask the question, "Does this really make sense?" If employees are involved in the process, ask them. If vendors, suppliers or customers are involved, ask them.

· Don't let it happen again. Often, the only difference between the wise and the foolish is that the fools are still doing at the end what the wise were doing in the beginning. When the wise see their folly, they stop and don't repeat the foolishness.

· There may be more than one "common sense" option. Seldom is there only one way to fix what isn't working. More often than not, you will find several solutions. Don't develop tunnel vision and assume that there is only one way to succeed.

Emerson wrote, "Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing." That might be a pretty good recipe for eliminating business nonsense as well.

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