![]()
DONâT SEND YOUR DUCKS
TO EAGLE SCHOOL
My wife, Margaret, and I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts. When we pass a Krispy Kreme shop, we always look for the red neon âHot Doughnuts Nowâ sign that tells potential customers that the doughnuts have just been made and are coming off the assembly line, hot and fresh and delicious. Although we do not allow ourselves to indulge often, occasionally we canât help but give in to temptation. If we see the red light on, one of us will say, âItâs a sign from God that we should stop and buy a doughnut!â
One evening when we were approaching a Krispy Kreme shop, we could clearly see that the light was not on, but we decided to stop anyway. Much to our delight and surprise, the doughnuts were just coming off the conveyer belt, hot and gooey.
âYou forgot to turn on the sign to let the customers know the doughnuts are warm and fresh,â I said to the young lady who waited on us.
âOh, I donât turn that sign on a lot of the time,â she replied. âThe moment I do, people come into the store and we get too busy. If I keep the sign off, itâs less hectic.â
I was stunned. I wondered, Why would she think like that? At first it didnât make sense to me. But then, as I thought about it, I realized it was a matter of her position influencing her perception. She was an employee who didnât want to be inconvenienced. Certainly if the owners had been there, they would have turned the sign on! They wouldnât be hoping for convenienceâthey would have the success of the whole business and all of its employees in mind.
WHY SOME DONâT SOAR
For more than three decades, I have hosted conferences and written books with the purpose of adding value to people. Experience has taught me a valuable lesson: no matter what I do or how hard I try to help people, not everyone will respond in the same way. Some people will attend a conference and their lives will start to turn around. Others will come and tune out everything I say. Some will change; some wonât. That has always frustrated me. I want everyone to learn, change, grow, and get better!
I experienced a âeureka momentâ not long ago when I read something by speaker and ...
