cogs

I met a guy named Paul today. He wore a tie and a vest and was deep in the line of airline service reps I talked to in my 28 hour venture home. He didn't cause my problems. Those were caused by your typical delays, cancellations, airline switching, missed flights, miscommunications, etc. The concern here is his reaction after hearing my story.

After a long (and calm, mind you) discussion, he agreed that they made a commitment that they could not keep regarding buying my seat to accommodate their overbooked manifest. The airline was in the wrong. Rather than attempting to fix it, he blamed others. I agreed, it wasn't his fault; but that doesn't help me. So he moved to the fact that he does not have the authority to make it better. And this is what scares me.

No one should have the authority to interfere with the resolution of a service issue on the front line. Paul knew the situation better than any employee there. And he knew what needed to be done to fix it. He had everything he needed to be stellar except "authority." He even agreed when I told him this! Yet he backed away.

Either, the policies in place were hindering him from effectively doing his job, or, he uses them as an excuse to be a cog in a machine. Never let policies, processes, procedures, or authority inhibit you from doing your work. Rather, they should enable. And if you're a manger, ensure that the game you design does just that.