Attitude or Ability?

I am a guest speaker for the Arthritis Society. That means that I volunteer my time (and put gas in my car) to make presentations about arthritis to groups that are interested in learning more about the condition and the symptoms. In early October I knew I would be speaking to two groups during the month and I called the Halifax office of the Arthritis Society to replenish my supply of brochures. I placed my order and thought nothing more of it, until October 14th, the day before my first talk. And you guessed it, the materials hadn't arrived. I made do...found materials and had a variety of brochures and information to share with the 25 or so people present. True I could have followed up sooner and in a less busy month I probably would have, but I put my trust in the voice on the other end of the telephone that had assured me that the materials would be here on time.

On October 21st I finally followed up by called the Halifax office again, only to be told the person I had spoken to earlier was away. After a few minutes of conversation I was assured that the parcel would be sent by bus and that I would have it in lots of time for the October 28th commitment. When I returned home Monday evening (October 26th) there was a voice mail from the bus station saying there was a package for me...great news! BUT the parcel was in Truro, NS which is about 3 hours from where I live. In fact Halifax is an hour closer to me. The parcel had made its way to the wrong depot...not Bridgewater as I had requested but Truro.

This morning I called the Halifax office of the Arthritis Society again. And I think the situation is going to be solved in time for my talk tomorrow. I spoke to the Director this time and she seems to be problem solving by sending a package by courier to a drop off point where someone can pick it up and bring it to the meeting tomorrow afternoon. We had a very direct conversation about my expectations and about the roadblocks that I had been experiencing.

This is an example of a minor irritation...or is it? If this is the level of service that is offered, then how effective is the program planning from that office.

There are really only two reasons why tasks do not get completed in a timely manner...one is attitude and the other is ability. Attitude cannot be changed by anyone except the person involved. Ability may mean that the skills are missing and training is required, or it may mean that the time available is exceeded by the number of tasks assigned. In this case either the person needs to improve efficiency or the system in place needs to be modified so that the completion of promised actions is timely and accurate.

It seems that everywhere I look these days there are examples of misses, near misses, or in the case of Mr Williams in the Pictou Hospital just plain disasters: all because of failure to complete an assigned task. I am tired of the "good enough"attitude I see all too frequently.

I am pleased that my situation with the Arthritis Society appears to be resolved (tomorrow will tell the tale) but I am now wondering just how efficient that whole operation is and how much of the donation dollar is spent retrieving parcels from the wrong destination, resending materials, and other mix ups that I can only guess at.