I don’t know about you but I have a terrible relationship with my GPS. Don’t get me wrong, I really like having a GPS, I just don’t trust her. Currently it is a she. I’ve tried the male voice, the female voice, a voice with an English accent, a young man, an old woman, and here’s what I’ve learned. I can’t really stand for ANYONE to tell me where to go.
Who knew? I guess the relationship is more love hate than anything. I love the GPS when she tells me where to go in a timely manner and the path is the shortest, most efficient way to get there. However, if you’ve ever used your GPS in the town you live in you may identify with my frustration. I’ve lived in a suburb of Ft. Worth, TX for 21 years. In the old days we use this archaic book called the Mapsco. I studied the Mapsco because there are at least 12 good ways to get anywhere in this giant Metroplex. I feel pretty competent about my ability to head in the right direction of where I need to go in the city I live in.
Dallas is another thing all together. I can get to Dallas, but I usually have a time getting out of Dallas. So I use the GPS. She always wants me to take some stupid route to get across town. I KNOW how to get across town. I don’t know what to do when I get to Dallas. The challenge is that you need to set the route before you leave because it won’t let you mess with it while driving down the road… Good option really. I should be driving when I’m driving and not playing the electronics in the car. Right?
So there I am, driving to Dallas yesterday, using the shortest route. She’s nagging me to turn, make a u-turn when possible, turn right when I know left is best. I just want her to shut up until I get to the city. I’m surprised the GPS machines I’ve used in the 100’s of cities I’ve traveled to really work at all. I keep expecting them to say, “Why bother Beth. Turn me off, you aren’t listening to me, please make a legal u-turn as soon as possible!” It’s unbelievable to me that she can really know the right way to go. Many times, I’m looking at a map and it just looks like she’s lost her mind! I don’t understand how she knows there’s slow traffic ahead. It really creeps me out.
I’m driving along in Irving and she’s kept her mouth shut for a while; and then all of a sudden she pipes up and says in her know-it-all voice, “stop and go traffic”. I’m the one sitting in the traffic. I already know there’s stop and go traffic. Of course I sarcastically responded to my dashboard, “No kidding-I’m the one driving.” It did cross my mind in that moment that I might need a therapy session for this issue.
I wound up getting on the phone so I wouldn’t have to listen to her insistence that I was going the wrong way. I KNOW how to get to Dallas. Then I get near the Dallas exit, and this crazy machine tells me to turn left. I do, and would you believe it, I should have turned right. She’s such a trickster! I figured it out and got to my destination. I used her to get home and she did not lead me astray on the way out of town, thank goodness.
Why do I bring this up?
It strikes me that knowing where to go and how to get there is a pretty big deal. You must trust the navigator. My guess is that we all trust ourselves a little more than an outside source. Trust is hard to build and when you are led astray it’s easy to assume the advice you are receiving might be wrong.
If you are trying to navigate your way through this crazy economy and your sales aren’t what you want them to be, if your staff isn’t performing the way you want them to perform, your learning systems are non-existent, your marketing approach stills uses archaic “Mapsco” like methods then maybe the TrainerTainment GPS (Gift of Performance Solutions) is the new machine you need : ) … Ok, I just made that up but it’s sounds pretty good to me! I hope it does to you too.
Call us today and let us help you build sales, deliver great guest service, and put strong learning and marketing systems in place to insure results. 817.886.4840.
