"Hey, are they
biting?" If you’re a fisherman you’ve heard this question a million times.
If you’re not, you may have found yourself asking, "Umm, I wonder what they
use?" This page will allow you to try different techniques from my "Tackle
Box" and also keep you up-to-date with current events and projects. If you find
anything that lands you a keeper, drop me a line.
Quotes from Chip’s Speeches:
"Your ability to learn faster than your competition is your
only sustainable competitive advantage." –Arie de Gues
"There is an energy field between humans. And, when we reach
out in passion, it is met with an answering passion and changes the relationship
forever." –Rollo May
"In times of massive change it is the learner who will
inherit the earth, while the learned stay foolishly tied to a world that no longer
exists." –Eric Hoffer
"The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be
appreciated." –William James
"Leaders are more powerful role models when they learn than
when they teach." –Rosabeth Moss Kantor
Books mentioned in Chip’s speeches:
The Owner’s Manual for the Brain by Pierce J.
Howard, Austin: Bard Books, 1998.
Leadership Jazz by Max De Pree, New York: Doubleday, 1989.
The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge, New York:
Doubleday, 1990.
Frequently requested
stories Chip reads in his mentoring speeches:
In England at the turn of the century, milkmen used to deliver
their product to customers’ homes in uncapped bottles. Birds, particularly the
titmouse and the red robin, learned how to siphon off the cream that rose to the top of
the bottles.
Between the two world wars, dairy distributors began capping the
bottles with aluminum seals. But the 1950s, the entire titmouse population had learned how
to pierce the seals. Robins, on the other hand, were completely stumped.
Titmice learn as a species because they are networking birds,
moving from garden to garden in flocks of eight to ten for several months. They teach each
other, passing knowledge from individual to pair to group.
Robins, by contrast, are territorial. They stake out turf and
prevent others from settling on it. This limits the opportunity to share knowledge that
would benefit the entire species.
The Gorillas and the Banana Story
An experiment was conducted with four gorillas moved into the same
cage. When the gorillas were first introduced into the environment, the experimenters
would lower bananas into the center of the cage. When the gorillas went after the food,
all were hosed down with a high-pressure water hose. Even if only one went after the food,
all received the same treatment. As expected, soon the gorillas did not go after the
bananas when they were lowered into the cage. Behavior was trained and reinforced. Now,
the experimenters replaced one of the gorillas.
When the bananas were lowered into the cage, the new gorilla, of
course, started toward the free meal. The other three gorillas knew what would happen, so
they quickly jumped the new gorillas, keeping him from causing the dreaded response of
water. Although perplexed, the new gorilla quickly learned not to go after the food
lowered into the cage, and to jump any other gorilla that did the same.
The experimenters continued by slowing replacing each gorilla one
by one. The result was the same: the new one went for the food the others jumped him. Soon
the experimenters had replaced all of the four original gorillas. Keep in mind that the
high-pressure water hose had not been used since the first four gorillas were together.
But every time a new gorilla went for the food lowered into the cage, the others stopped
him cold. The experimenters were able to go several generations away from the original
four gorillas, but still the behavior did not change. None of the gorillas knew why they
shouldn’t go for the food, but they knew what to do if any one did. It was what was
done before them, and before them, and so on. A proud tradition was born.
Processionary Caterpillars
Processionary caterpillars feed on pine needles. They move through
the trees in a long procession, one leading and the others following--each with their eyes
half-closed and their heads snugly fitted against the rear extremity of the predecessor.
Jean Fabre, the great French naturalist, after patiently
experimenting with a group of the caterpillars, finally enticed them to the rim of a large
flowerpot where he succeeded in getting the first one connected up with the last one, thus
forming a complete circle which started moving around in a procession which had neither
beginning nor end.
The naturalist expected that after a while they would catch on to
the joke--get tired of their useless march and start off in some new direction.
But not so…
Through sheer force of habit, the living, creeping circle kept
moving around the rim of the pot--around and around, keeping the same relentless pace for
seven days and seven nights--and would have continued longer had it not been for sheer
exhaustion and ultimate starvation.
Incidentally, an ample supply of food was close at hand, and
plainly visible, but it was outside the range of the circle so they continued along the
beaten path.
They were following habit, custom, tradition, precedent, past
experience, "standard practice"--whatever you may choose to call it, but they
were following it blindly.
An activity to try with your team:
- Identify a service process that customers frequently complain about
that you would like to improve or revamp. For instance, a hospital might select patient
admission or an automobile dealer might choose a customer’s wait for routine service.
- Select the ending feeling or emotion you want your customers to
leave with if your goal is to be a world-class service provider. For instance, you might
want customers to leave feeling special or confident.
Pick a service provider you have experienced (or heard about) that
does a great job of making their customers feel the way you selected in "B." For
instance, if you selected "confident" in "B," you might pick a role
model company like FedEx or UPS in "C."
How would predict "C" (your role model) would change
"A" (your problem process) to make your customers feel "B" (your ideal
customer emotion)?
Chip’s current projects:
- A brand new one-day training program entitled Mentoring:
How to be a Learning Coach is now available for purchase. View Program Details. The program can also be structured
as 2 half-day sessions. The training program comes complete with a 225 page detailed
Trainers Guide, a 75 page Participant Workbook for each participant, Video cases (on VCR
or DVD), audio tape, instruments and other support materials. A two-day trainer
certification process comes with this new program. Many organizations have trained a
cadre of trainers to teach Mentoring to all their supervisors, managers and even
peer coaches. Call Chip (214.522.5777) for details.
- Also, a brand new one-day training program entitled Creating
Passionately Devoted Customers is now available for purchase. View Program Details. The program can also be structured as 2 half-day
sessions. The training program comes complete with a 225 page detailed Trainers
Guide, a 75 page Participant Workbook for each participant, Video cases (on VCR or DVD),
audio tape, instruments and other support materials. A two-day trainer certification
process comes with this new program. Many organizations have trained a cadre of
trainers to teach Creating Passionately Devoted Customers to all their supervisors,
managers and even peer coaches. Call Chip (214.522.5777) for details.
- Chip and his business partner, John Patterson, have a
new book entitled Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted
Customers to be released Spring, 2009 by John Wiley Publishers. The book is slated to
be the publisher's lead business title. It will be their second book together. Stay tuned
for details.
- A new two-day training program entitled Leading
Extraordinary Customer Service based on the best-selling book Managing
Knock Your Socks Off Service will be released by the American Management
Association in Spring, 2007.
- A brand new one-day training program entitled Serving
as Leader has been successfully piloted and is now available for sale. More
details will be posted on this website as well as on www.premiertrainingsolutions.com.
Please call 214.522.5777 or e-mail for details.
How Chip likes to relax:
Chip snorkling at Los Cabos, Mexico, with his wife,
Nancy.
Chip and his wife, Nancy vacationing on Lake Como in
Northern Italy.
Chip fly-fishing on the Roaring Fork River near Aspen,
Colorado.
A key source of "Chippy's" inspiration (Kaylee,
Annabeth and baby Cassie).
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