I hate shopping for electronics or appliances, and not only because I don’t really care much about those things. What I hate more is that the fresh-faced employees at those big box retailers always try to sell me the $19.95 extended warranty to cover the $125 microwave. It makes me question if the $125 I’m spending is for something everyone except me knows isn’t going to work as well as I’d hoped.
It’s not a new concept, or one limited to things we buy that break. Back in 1861, department store magnate John Wanamaker lamented, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
As much as we intend to invest wisely, our measurement on return is iffy at best. Click throughs and clip reports and column inches can’t calculate the elusive, intangible magic of marketing done well. In our fervor to ferret out what isn’t working, we’ve lost faith in what always has. Honesty. Relevance. A gorgeous picture and a great headline. Asking you to spend money – more money – making sure your money is well spent? Save it for the extended warranty.
I’ve been listening to all the angst about the high price of petrol. And watching the suddenly energy-aware do for their pocketbooks what they wouldn’t do for our planet. One co-worker has traded her solo commute for a bus. Another’s dad is dumping his premium-guzzling Caddy for a premium-priced Prius. The New York Times is hailing the decline of pickups and SUVs.
These inconvenient adjustments to Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth are all well and good. But there’s one fatal flaw: they’re all about lowering the cost of the trip instead of shortening or eliminating the trip.
One reason the ride is so expensive and our dependence on oil so high is that we’ve moved further and further from the focal point of our communities. We’ve abandoned the city for the suburbs, the suburbs for the exurbs. And as each ring grows more densely populated, we whine about crowded highways, add more lanes and drive even further.
The consummate environmentalist is no longer the organic farmer in the middle of nowhere. It’s the urban pioneer—repopulating abandoned acres, rehabbing historic homes, replanting trees, reinventing urban education, and yes, replacing that commute with a walk to work—no bus, Prius or SUV required.
Let’s face it folks–we spend a LOT of time at work. Research from the Productivity Institute shows that in the last 20 years, working time has increased by 15%, while leisure time has decreased by 33%. As someone who does recruiting, interviewing and hiring for Hetrick, I am continually looking for ways to differentiate our agency, and the work experience we offer. Candidates frequently ask me to describe our “culture,” or talk about what we do for “fun.” While I certainly want our employees to have a good time at work, I do not feel the responsibility to create that fun–or worse yet–legislate fun. I do feel a responsibility to help create a meaningful experience. With 78% of American workers wishing they had more time to smell the roses, I contend that if you find meaning in the work you do, you can smell those roses right at your laptop. I also know that our personal trials and tribulations can’t help but shape how we approach our work. As I continue on my own personal journey against breast cancer, I can’t imagine going to work–putting in the time and energy it takes to run a successful business–if I couldn’t find joy and meaning in each day. What are you doing today to make your work life mean something?
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