I had a problem today. Well actually it's been building up since about 2 weeks ago - when I started a project late and due to Chinese New Year in China starting waaaay earlier than the holiday itself (read my posting Why I Hate Chinese New Year).
In summary, a customer orders a customized product, we scrambled to finish it on time, the product gets delivered to me and it turns out to be... not as expected. In fact, a measurement was off about 1/2 an inch and when you do packaging... oh hoho ho it's a no no. Wrong measurement in packaging is like a death star.
So who's fault was it? I would gladly say it's the customer's, since they rush us to finish this in super-hero speed and that they were late in giving us the artwork. But, is it also my factory's fault, for not letting me know in advance that it was GOING to be wrong. Then I can also point the finger at my project manager because he was the one who went to the factory to do inspection and he didn't say anything. Of course, why not drag my partner into this all together too because she was supposed to be the liaison between me and the factory.
At the end, though, the weight comes down to me, as the representative of the company. I have to face the customer and I have to explain to them what happened. And, most importantly, propose a solution. It sucks to be a sales person! But, what else can I do, it is my responsibility.
That is why I am so inspired by what President Obama did last week. After successfully delivering his first State of the Union address on Wednesday night, President Obama walked in to a gathering of House Republicans on Friday and took questions for more than an hour. MSNBC described it as going straight into "the lion's den."It was also nationally televised.
Talk about being brave! That was a crazy thing to do, one that most people will want to avoid. Who wants confrontation, let alone from people who oppose all your policies in the beginning? His message, let's work together, was not received well during the event, and fingers were pointing to find who's to blame on majority of issues. But President Obama, thank goodness for his calm, assuring manners, answered every question with dignity and clarity, and even lectured them on some issues that he feels were wrongly judged. I'm just so proud about how my President handled all those questions.
Now of course I am not implying that he did that because there was some blame he has to take - this is not in line with what I have to do. But I'm just saying that he was a brave person for doing that and somehow... I feel inspired. It's always not pleasant when you have to do something you don't want to do. But hey, it's only one customer, right. And if they don't like it, what are they going to do, bomb my house?
I think I can handle it. In fact, I'm sure I can.
