Imaginative Service: Following the Rules of Combat

Several years ago Logan Graves posted the “Rules of Combat” out on his website.   We filed the clever set of rules away but recently dusted them off for a fresh look at imaginative service.  Here are a few of his rules.

1. The easy way is always mined.  There is an adage that goes “only dead fish swim with the current.”  Imaginative service seeks the road less traveled in the pursuit of ingenious and novel.  Today’s customers are bored with pretty good service.
2. No combat-ready unit ever passed inspection; no inspection-ready unit ever passed combat.   Imaginative service is scrappy and provocative.  It focuses on what works, not on what’s cute.  The ‘function over form’ orientation enables you to race past preoccupation with appearance to outpace those mired in convention.
   
3. All five-second grenade fuses are three seconds. Imaginative service requires preparation, not serendipity.  Dancers do rehearsal, planners create what-if scenarios, and product makers use dry runs.  Granted, everything cannot be pilot tested.  But imaginative service providers know that mastering the unexpected comes through forethought and study.
4. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is NOT our friend. Imaginative service requires the courage to try new and different.  And, such courage comes from a sense of accountability to those you serve.  It enables you to embrace challenge as a chance to test limits and reaffirm principles. 

Would your customers describe you as brave or courageous?  Do you celebrate excellent efforts that fail?  Are you constantly seeking a path to new experiences your customers will find memorable as well as valuable?