Delivering The Goods: Keeping Your Word In a World Which Often Doesn't
Perhaps I'm just getting crochety. Then again, maybe not. First, I'm hardly old enough to be in the "crochety" class.
And secondly, I've been feeling this way for about 30 years. My complaint? Delivering the goods. Or the lack thereof. Growing up, one of the things stressed in my family had to
do with keeping your word. When you said you would do
something, promised to make good on something, you did
it. Or made every good effort to do so. Mostly, you delivered
the goods. You showed up on time. Made the return phone
call. Produced what you'd promised. Kept your word. Occasionally, circumstances simply worked totally against
you and it turned out that what you'd promised wasn't
possible. Still, you did all you could to bring about the
pledged result. And if you didn't? FEELING BADLY AND YOUR PERSONAL
INTEGRITY You felt badly, really badly. Not keeping your word was a
very serious thing. Not because others thought so,
but because it was the essence of your own personal
integrity. And what is integrity? It means "wholeness," something
complete in itself. And having it and living by it means that
you become trusted by others. They can count on you. They
know you'll deliver the goods. So when you truly were not able to do so, despite every effort
you made to keep your word, you were personally wounded.
It wasn't so much that you'd let others down; you'd let
yourself down. You felt badly, sometimes for a long while in
serious cases. You didn't just forget it and prate on about
your self esteem or how tough things were. You
knew you'd screwed up. DIFFERENT FISH And today? Today is a very different kettle of fish, I'm sad to say.
Nowadays, delivering the goods all too often deals with
written contracts and getting away with only what is written
down...if that. It seems to be about cutting corners, avoiding
any commitment, personal or otherwise, finding ways to
deliver less than what was promised, fooling the other guy.
And laughing when you get away with it. NOT GIVING A DAMN It's about not caring about the other side of the contract and
the effects you create when you don't keep your word. It's
about irresponsibility, a casual attitude and a sense that too
many people simply don't give a damn. Does any of this sound familiar? Met too many folks like
this lately? Been screwed in some deals? Didn't get what
you paid for? Discovered there had been some surprises in
the small print? CHANGE IS COMING Probably won't make you feel a whole lot better, but the
times they are 'achangin. We're beginning to see the return
of that older version of ethics and integrity. Why? The internet. "How come?" you might ask. Because of both distance and anonymity. What we're
seeing in the way of business on the internet today is an
unbelievably tiny increment of what is to come. Eventually,
Trillions (yep, with a big "T") of business will be done this
way. Already you're dealing with people whom you've never -
and will never - see, with whom you don't actually speak, in
many instances. They may be in other cities, other
territories and, often, in other countries. Those who will
prosper will be those who deliver the goods, keep their
word, make good on their promises. The others will quickly
lose their lustre. The internet is quick to let you know when
a phony is running around, when quality is poor, when the
"deal" isn't being kept. And personally? Relationships are being built in a new way. People in chat
rooms and in email are often revealing more to people
whom they've never met than they would have, in past years,
to spouses. Does it work? Sometimes. Apparently, some good relationships are
being created, marriages taking place, perhaps families
being raised. Too soon to tell how this may work. EVEN HERE THE LIES CONTINUE But already I've seen signs of the lack of delivering the
goods, even in this area. Dates are made. One person
doesn't show up. Photos are exchanged. One person
sends a friend's photo, perhaps someone more attractive.
It's lying. Failing to keep one's word. It won't do. THE WORLD'S GLUE The civilized world is held together with concepts. These
are expressed by words and deeds. As one writer, living in
a small town in France, said, "Most of life is governed, not by
laws written by legislatures, but by invisible rules of order.
They are written down nowhere, but respected almost
universally." If your words and deeds don't deliver the goods, you will
eventually be shunned. No matter the wealth or station in
life you attain, you'll be known by whether you deliver the
goods.
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