As the twig is bent, so grows the tree

(adapted from an article supplied by Australian marketing guru Winston Marsh) 

How many times have you waited over an hour in a medical practice waiting room? 

Now we all understand that because medical people do have all sorts of emergencies it can often mean they run late. And, of course, being medical people they never apologise for their lateness. 

But as the twig is bent so the tree grows and, because the specialist never apologises, the receptionist doesn't see any reason to do so either. It becomes the culture or "the way we do things around here". 

It never seems to occur to any of these receptionists that they could, just as a simple courtesy, let the patient know, either by phone in advance or when they arrive, that the specialist is running late. In many cases it means that you could have gone and had a cup of coffee instead of wasting an hour. 

I suppose there are many excuses they could give, including the perennial "it's not our job" but it does ignore the golden rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. The lesson for us is to always put ourselves in the shoes of our client, customer or patient and ask ourselves "What would they like?"

And then just do it! 

It's amazing how small courtesies like this reap huge rewards both for the instigator and the recipient. Someday, one day, the roles may be reversed!