Farewell For Now, Juliette!

Today was the first day without Juliette at the shop (it's usually her day off). Yesterday was her last 'official' day with us at the shop. She is returning to school to get her (masters... I think) in architecture at the golden dome. She has a full schedule of credit hours so, working (for money) will probably not happen for her. I said it to Greg, at the shop this morning, '...it seems odd that I find myself saying this once again in less than two years but, we're losing a good set of framing hands and keeping the worst ones...'. He didn't respond to that statement. Sure, Juliette made mistakes but, she did not consistently make the same mistake, to the best of my recollection, over and over. Any mistakes that she had made in the last few weeks I would also associate to her 'disconnecting' from us. I have a knack for telling it how it is with people who just don't have a clue. Perhaps, it's a sympathetic level that prevents Greg from coming down on Diane G. He feels sorry for her and sees her as someone he can 'help'. It's a plausible theory based upon his actions (or lack there of) towards her overall productivity to the shop. Yet, what doesn't make sense is that he acknowledges her mistakes and even gets pissed off about it. Oh yeah, that's right, he's a republican... if the president can rides both sides of the fence, why can't ever other citizen who sees him as some standard by which to base their own words and actions upon as well. Disregard any conflicting commentary (even if it's legitimate) and simply do what ever you want. Sounds like a major power/control issue to me. I like having authority myself but, there is a critical difference between having authority and controlling. Authority is simply there to make sure things do not go terribly wrong... keeping things in some controlled chaos. Control has more to do with domination and having little or no concern with how things are carried on but that they are simply done now, and only this one way. I have proven time and time again that when you have authority over an enviornment and actually work productively with that in mind, others that walk into that enviornment, they tend to work equally as productive as well. If you lead by example and set the standard in terms of the actual work process, others will realize and feel that they should do the same. I instill that in my co-workers by staying after normal scheduled working hours to insure that the work flow continues to do just that, flow. Staggering and pacing work that instills a sense of panic is a poor system. People do not do there best work under those circumstances at least not in the custom framing world, they don't. I know, I've seen plenty of instances where others have tripped at every step because they're placed in a stress-induced situation that doesn't work well with the work we do day in and day out. I also believe strongly in raising the proverbial bar on people's expectations of us and our turn-around time. If we can, and we have numerous times, exceeded a person's expectations under my authority and make them go 'WOW!' and not simply, 'Thank you'. Anybody can do that with no real effort. It's the places that go that extra mile that are remembered more so for doing it above and beyond their expectations and in half the time. Oh yeah, one other proven theory, if you look busy, people are more inclined to work with you. Their thought, from my perspective is, '... these people are busy, they must be doing something right... I want to work with them...'. I would see and feel that way if I walked into a business. Being busy draws more business. Last thoughts, I will do great work when I have the right tools to do the work. That doesn't simply mean tangible tools, it means having the most important one, communication and information. Without that, failure is inevitable. One of the most important things I've come to know having worked in retail is that, and I've said this to Greg... and he didn't care to hear it, I'm sure, was this: '... you may cut and sign my paycheck but, the people who walk through that front door write it...', is (painfully, for some) very true. I work very hard to be the best framer I know I'm capable of being and making people say, 'WOW!', when they walk away with the results of our intelligent, focused and quality work. I know it sounds rather preachy but, it does work well. Far better than just meeting their expectations. I say, blow the doors off their expectations. I want that 'WOW!'. Juliette was one of those hardworking, intelligent framers who helped make that happen more often than not. We all make mistakes that we beat ourselves up over but, we, and she, still got the work done, period. Cheers to Juliette.