It is possible to think and work at the same time

Posted on | September 1, 2008 | 1 Comment

Mike is back! SQUEEEEEE!!!

-ahem- Excuse me.

He’s back with a nifty parable of creative versus not-so-much approaches to problem solving.

I’ll let Mike’s story deliver it’s own punchline but I can’t help recalling that bit I posted a couple of weeks ago about how thinking reduces productivity.

Because, you know, this is a good example of that, too.

Teller A, who couldn’t solve Mike’s problem is probably quite productive — if, by productive, you mean able to crank customers through her line at quite a clip. You can do that if you don’t exert yourself to solve your customers’ problems.

Of course, you wind up with unhappy customers that way but at least you’re more productive.

Teller B, on the other hand, might take a little longer to get people through her line — maybe. Of more importance, of course, is that she makes customers happier because she doesn’t hang her brain up with her coat when she gets to work.

My hunch is that Teller B isn’t really all that much less productive than Teller A, even if she is occasionally willing to take a few extra minutes to solve knotty customer issues. At the same time, Teller B is probably worth a lot more money to her employer’s business.

Which one would you rather have on staff?

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