The Best Solutions are Often Simple – Blog #7

T h e B e s t S o l u t i o n s a r e O f t e n S i m p l e – B l o g # 7

September 19, 2019

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80’s, Blog

So, in Blog #6 I talked about how my father taught me a valuable lesson that I’ve carried for my entire life with focusing on Attention to detail. In this post, I want to talk about how the Best Solutions are Often Simple.

I know It sounds easy but it’s so true. It’s easy to get overwhelmed; sometimes not knowing how to ask the right questions.

One day, the Store Manager said I would be closing with Bill, he was a guy I worked with. He was supposed to teach me how to close the store, because my manager was leaving for the day.

Expect the Unexpected

So 3:00 pm rolls around, and Bill comes into work dressed in a gold, sparkly outfit and reeks of alcohol. He said he had partied all night, and was still drunk. So my guess was he couldn’t close the store with me.

I wasn’t really questioning his choice of outfits (or why he was still wearing it at 3pm) The question was how do I figure out closing the store alone (I’d never closed the register at night because I usually worked in the daytime).

I was so angry at Bill for putting me in this situation. But at the same time, how could I be angry with a drunk guy in a gold sparkly outfit?…Unless it’s 3pm in the afternoon….

So, one solution was to call the store manager, but I didn’t want her to think I couldn’t handle the job. So, I turned to the store manual and figured it out on my own. Simple…

By the way, Bill had a reputation for being a party guy. Sadly a few months later, he was beaten to death in his apartment. He was a good guy and kind of a cartoon character of sorts. If there was a three panel comic strip, he would have said the punchline at the end.

The Best Solutions are Often Simple:

If you know you are closing the store for the first time, or really doing anything for the first time, ask lots of questions. Know what’s involved and anticipate issues you might run into.

I should have asked the Store Manager how to close before she left, I wouldn’t have had that anxiety feeling of “OMG!” what now?! I figured it out in any case, so it all worked out, which proves the topic today that The Best Solutions are Often Simple.