ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - October 5, 2001

After over a month at home, I finally get back on the road this weekend, returning to Pittsburgh for another program with Eat'n Park. The last time I was there, I had a heart attack. (I am looking for a less-eventful trip this time!)

I feel a rant coming on . . .

WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE?
I imagine many folks have been asking themselves this question. The economy has tanked, consumer confidence is down, nobody is traveling, more layoffs every day, reservations canceling, retailers putting the world on sale. It doesn't compute. What's going on out there?

Good news and bad news
I will grant you there is a new dynamic at the moment. It is not the same market conditions we have been lulled by for so long . . . but I have to tell you that if you are having problems, don't place the blame "out there." That's not where the problem is. The solution is not "out there" either. As long as it looks like the issues are "out there," you will be a victim. The bad news is that there is nothing you can do about what is going on "out there" even though it may affect you and your business. The good news is that there really is no "out there." There is only "in here" . . . and that is something you can do something about.

Confused? It helps to understand the difference between a problem and a condition. I know, you don't have problems, you have challenges. You might say they are not problems, they are opportunities. I acknowledge that it is less paralyzing to think of opportunities rather than problems but whatever the euphemism, you are still left with a problem in drag!

However, problems (challenges, opportunities or whatever) are a daily fact of life and dealing with them seems to define the job of most hospitality managers, even in good times. So stop whining and take another look at things with an eye toward reaching a different understanding of what is and what is not really a problem.

Problems
A problem is merely a situation that you don't yet have a handle on. Think about that for a minute. The only reason you would look at a situation as a problem is that you just cannot quite see how to deal with it. Certainly if you knew how to handle it, you would not be likely to think of it as a problem in the first place - a nuisance, perhaps, but not really a problem.

If you are honest with yourself, you have to admit that virtually all of the situations you face in life, personal or professional, ultimately have a workable solution. So when something looks like a dilemma, all you are really facing is an event where the answer is not yet apparent to you. You know there is a solution somewhere, you just have to figure out how and where to find it. So, no real problem.

Conditions
If you have a situation where there is no possible resolution, you do not have a problem, you have a condition. For example, gravity is not a problem, it is a condition. You can love gravity or you can hate it but you are not going to change it! Because gravity is a condition, it's a waste of time to complain about it. Just accept it and devote your energies to more productive pursuits.

So here we are in strange economic waters, but the economy, travel patterns, consumer confidence and all are conditions that you just have to accept. Your task now is to stop obsessing about what is going on "out there" with events you can't do anything about and start applying your energies to what you are doing "in here" about the things you CAN do something about. When you can do that, you will stop being a victim and put yourself back in control of your fate.

Look, we've been through tough times before. We got through those and we will get through this one as well. Don't waste another minute complaining about anything. If we learned nothing else from the events of September 11, it has to be that our petty concerns are pretty insignificant in the larger scheme of things. You know what you need to do. Get busy and start doing it.

I feel better now.

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