A letter to the CEO has never been easier...

If you send a letter to a CEO, he or she will answer you... a Google search and some simple detective work you can have their email address rather quickly - Letter sent and letter received... it has never been easier. Keep in mind there are some caveats, but that is true with most things.

Why would you send a letter to a CEO? One major reason is they are great problem solvers, or have access to a whole organization of people that are. This can be very effective for solving a problem you're having with an organization, particularly if the CEO is at the helm. Other reasons could be to seek advice from a domain expert, networking or even presenting an idea that you think they may be interested in.

Why would a CEO want to hear from you? As a customer, you are critical to a company's success; they will want to hear what you have to say - If things are going "right" or if they're going "wrong"... and if things are going wrong, they will want to have it fixed to ensure good business governance - Good business governance is definitely high on the list for a CEO. As an employee or customer, they want to hear your thoughts, ideas and concerns as it is all about "engagement", something else high on a CEO's list.

Recently, I sent the following letter to solve a customer service issue I was having with a bank... I have edited it slightly and removed the bank's name as my problem has been solved and I appreciated the solution. I want to illustrate that CEOs get things done, not specifically the issue with the "Bank".

Subject: Why is dealing with your bank always so onerous?

Hello Mr CEO,

I have been an account holder with the "Bank" to one degree or another since I opened my very first account back in the early 70’s. Today’s interaction with the "Bank" continues to re-enforce how difficult it can to work with your organization and why over the years I have moved a majority of my daily banking elsewhere. I currently have a safety deposit box, a component of my daughter’'s trust, and a small line of credit with one of your branches. 

Today'’s issue arose attempting to add my daughter to my safety deposit box so she would have access to important documentation in case of emergency. As part of this process we needed to set up an account for my daughter before she could be given access to my safety deposit box; after all of the identification was shared and validated we were asked for a “bill to prove my daughter’s address”, as her current address is different than mine. We could not move forward until some sort of 3rd party correspondence was submitted. As you can appreciate this information was not readily available at the time, we were told that nothing could proceed due to “policy” and had to come back with the information.

I appreciate that need to validate against fraud and such, but I think there was a complete lack of context on your branch’'s part, and in the end did nothing but inconvenience me.

• As the father, and in fact sponsor of my daughter to get access to my safety deposit box, I do not understand why a "3rd party bill with an address "confirming her driver’'s licence address" is needed.
• I was told that if my daughter’s address had been the same as mine I could vouch for her, but since it is different I could not. I do not understand the logic and why my credibility changes?
• The trust account that is currently with you is in fact my daughter’s, so again I do not understand why such validation is needed.
• At one time my daughter had an account with the branch, but that didn'’t seem to be relevant.
• My daughter already has the second safety deposit box key, so in a practical sense all you are doing is standing in the way of using it. This is particularly inconvenient if an emergency happens in the near future, as there are papers that would need to be accessed. 
•  In the end, the position of your bank was to stand behind a policy that wasn'’t even explained clearly, and put all the burden on us to track down a 3rd party bill for my daughter who is 20 years old, in school, mobile by definition and has not established herself yet with the 3rd party confirmations your “policy” says is needed.

I should make it clear I do not see this as an issue for my daughter but for me - a long time "Bank" account holder who has had mortgages and a sizeable line of credit with you. All I wanted to do was add my daughter to my safety deposit box, but in the end has been a onerous activity, a waste of my time, and re-enforces why my primary banking isn'’t with the "Bank".

As you know, Safety Deposit Boxes are a rare commodity, so I have no intensions with “tub thumping” how I will stop dealing with the "Bank". What I will say though," I have little interest in doing business with you except when absolutely necessary". I hope you can appreciate my perspective and the intentions of this note.

Sincerely,

As a customer, I was pleased with the response and how my problem was dealt with. I hope they appreciated me bringing the situation to their attention, instead of me just quietly disappearing into the night. More importantly, my daughter was pleased with how they responded, and being a Gen Y, she represents the future they need to deal with..

I should point out that there are some caveats that come with writing the CEO and being effective... these come to mind.

• If you are a customer addressing a problem - Constructively and factually outline the situation, your concerns and the impact... there is an aspect of credibility that needs to be established. There is no value with emotional criticism, insults or unrealistic threats. It dilutes what you are trying to say.
• Before you write a CEO, ensure you have taken the time to investigate other avenues of resolution. Most companies have problem resolution mechanisms, but ultimately it is your decision when you escalate.
• Be prepared for a response, and with that, an expectation you want to work to a resolution; a cathartic tirade letter to a CEO is a waste of time, and there is a lack of credibility that falls back on the author.
• If you are an employee writing your CEO (and I encourage it), ensure you are bringing solutions to your discussions, not just problems and observations... they get enough of those from customers.

The letter is by no means dead... just evolving. It's faster, easier to deliver and has an increased chance of creating a dialogue... ideal for problem solving. Ask any CEO.

gpe

Tools and re-tooling... one big analogy!

Heads up... this will be one big fat analogy for understanding situations and problem solving. Recently I was reminded that when you don't use the correct tool(s), the job is so much more difficult; for that mater, sometimes impossible. I had to remove an "allen bolt" from a piece of machinery, and it was on so very tight, I could not loosen it.

If you are not familiar with an allen bolt, it is a bolt with a hexagon socket in the head and you use an "allen key" to loosen and/or tighten the bolt. As bolts go, it is a good one, and it's usually straight forward to get on and off (see picture). My allen key couldn't get it off; when I used a drill with a hexagon bit attached, I still couldn't turn the bolt... it would not budge and I had a BIG problem! I needed to get it off. 

Something you should know about getting bolts off, it is all about torque, which is to say the force of twisting; it explains why a drill wouldn't work, as it is built for speed, and although I thought I had an allen key, it was more of a bicycle tool. As a result of not recognizing that torque was required to loosen the bolt, I defined the problem based on the tools I decided to use - I used my perspective of the tools I had available to define the problem to be a very tight allen bolt... not that the real problem was that I did not enough available torque.

Eventually realizing I needed the right tool that would provide sufficient torque, I bought a true allen key (the long version); sure enough, the bolt came right off - The bolt was never too tight. 

As I look back at my trials and tribulations with the allen bolt...

• I tried to align the situation to the tools I had at hand, instead of aligning the tools to the situation; this was compounded because although I understood needing torque, I dismissed it and focused on the tools.
• I spend almost no time on the situation to really understand it, and develop a plan... I simple grabbed my tools and "went to work".
• I became so entrenched with my line of thinking, it wasn't until I looked for advice that I was able to mentally "step back" and reassess what tools I was using to address the situation.
• There was a part of me, deep down, that knew I should be working with a real allen wrench but didn't want to spend the time getting one, or even spending the money. In the end I had to buy one, and I calculate it ultimately took me 5 times longer. 
• The tools I had were just fine, just inappropriately being used. It was not the fault of the tool that it could not remove the allen bolt.
• The ultimate solution was to re-tool. I now have a fine set of allen keys that I can use another time.

There you have it... a story, lessons and reminders all from removing an allen bolt. 

It could have easily been a story about a new competitor, a major customer changing how they do business, a product launch to a new market segment, or applying for a new position.

Analogies are just so much fun, don't you think?

gpe

Ok... what the #!@* went wrong?!

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

"OK... what the #!@* went wrong?!"

 I will go out on a limb and say that many of us, to one degree or another, have said something to this effect; for those of us who are a little "over the top dramatic", I would suggest something even more "colourful" is used. What do you say when it was supposed to work, and for some reason... it just didn't?

You planned, you scheduled, you worked (very hard), you validated, you tested and you launched... it should have worked... but instead, you find yourself shaking your head and just asking such a profound question. Recent events have reminded me of a number of things and I thought I would share...

Plans, more often than not, will fall apart or become irrelevant the moment they are implemented. This is not to say that the plans and the work was wrong, substandard or misdirected, but as the "real world" comes into play it responds not quite the way you anticipated - Things go wrong. Inevitably your plan, and by extension what you are doing will be misaligned with the real world, and things "will not go entirely according to plan."

A leader I very much respect once said, " If you get it 70 % right, you are having it a good day". One can debate the percentage, but what is import to note is you will never get it 100 % right! You will manage "degrees" of success.

You are allowed to get emotional; you worked very hard so you have earned the right. Here is something to consider though... 1) You don't want to spend too much time as it really can be a time waster; as you know solving problems is an intellectual exercise, not an emotional one. 2) More often than not, these situations conjure up negative emotions which simply are not the fuel to get you out of the situation.

You will never get it 100 % wrong. It may not go as planned, but it is all about "degrees of success" and what you have learned. How does that saying go again? "I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways it will not work"**. It is all about what you have learned and the success you can build from it.

What do you do next? I recommend moving forward, although you could do nothing and just quit. Again, I recommend moving forward. 

• Assess what went wrong and more importantly what went right. And why?
• Bring in new perspectives to offer insight into what may be going on.
• Develop an improvement plan and build upon what went right.
• Communicate the situation early... be transparent, open and honest. This should also include the "improvement plan"
• Emotionally pick yourself up, "dust yourself off" and get back into the game.

As they say, for every action there is a "reaction"... you may not get the reaction you expected, but your actions are moving you forward and making things happen. 

And as much as I really like saying, "OK, what the #!@* went wrong", I thing maybe I will get into the habit of saying, "OK... now we are getting somewhere!!".

I've dusted myself off and am moving forward... wish me luck.

gpe 

* Feel free to insert any word you are comfortable with.

** They say Thomas Edison said this... and he did some amazing things.