We = I + You (are we giving due attention to the 'I' variable?)

Every Saturday morning, before the pandemic situation, I used to go to the local market to buy fruits, vegetables and fresh fish for the week. There was something in this routine that made me eager for Saturday mornings - the smells and the humanity you sense (and almost can touch), besides the obvious freshness and longevity of the products you buy.

In this routine, it is, with no surprise, that you stablish a trust relation with some of the vendors and, when they see you coming from far, you start to notice that they immediately start arranging the fruits and vegetables they know you always look and take home. Like if they want to make sure that, when you look to the oranges, or the persimmons, you will feel temped (even though they know you will take them) and, more important, that you have a certain pride in the vendor you choose. 

Every Saturday, his acts have the focus in getting the client loyalty for the next week.

With the lockdown, and the pandemic situation we are still leaving, I ceased (and will continue) to go the local market. Nevertheless, when I was starting to get a better awareness of what was coming, I asked for the phone number of certain vendors, in order to see if the worst case scenario was confirmed - as unfortunately was, I would at least still have the fruits and vegetables for the week.

With the lockdown formally announced, I called a vendor to see if he could make a home delivery – paying the respective delivery charge which he was free to set the price, as I told him with no negotiation perspective in mind. An immediate “no” came from the other side. Although surprised, I asked him why? He said we had the hope that until next Saturday, the local market would be open for business again. That week I had no fresh fruits and vegetables. I had some fruits and vegetables, delivered home, that would be rotten by next Wednesday.

The market didn′t open in the next Saturday as he was hoping and, in the next Monday, I received a call from him. He would like to know if I would be interested in having my fruits and vegetables by Friday Morning, instead of Saturday morning, for an extra 5 euros fee. I said immediately “yes”, and asked him what made him change his mind. He said he didn′t change. He was still hoping the market to open in the next Saturday, but his backup plan would be to sell most of his production in case he was wrong, or his clients were too afraid to go there.

Next Friday, all my fruits and vegetables were delivered at the door, and, I made a notice to all the people I know and live near me about his service. If in the area he gets 5 euros of delivery charge, being all the clients nearby, I would be helping him in stay motivated to continue the service (I wrongly thought). By the next week he had more clients in my residence area, true. However, in the last delivery, he said he would stop the service. 

The government had announced that the lockdown would stop and he did not want to have the work of preparing earlier the orders and deliver them. Also, that he was too old, and he likes to see his clients taking the piece of fruit they choose, or the cabbage that catches their eyes. All of that was being done by him. “Too much responsibility for me”, he said. He was always afraid that some of the articles were not exactly as an “X” client would want.

I asked him if he had many complaints. He said “no”. But every time the phone rang, he didn′t know if it was a client “trashing” something he have sent, or to make another order for the next week. “Too much stress” he added.

His service, he continued, was to present what he had in plain sight, and leave the client to choose what he likes best. A sense of pride every time a new client came and pick something; and a bigger sense of fulfilled duty when, that same client, returns next week and takes something more, even if the fruits or vegetables are not looking so good as the prior week.

I tell this story, not to say that I don′t have fresh fruits and vegetables from my traditional vendor next week – which I won′t, since I will remain in isolation. But because, we are not talking about business cases [this one was clearly better from profit – and value (safety) perspective], or client satisfaction (I was thrilled for having the fruits and vegetables from a quality of service and safety perspective). This was about the culture of his, single person, enterprise perspective.

We love what we do. The way we do it. In order to remain happy with our jobs, we are now required to put the ‘I’ culture in perspective. The selfish feeling of us, as individual and autonomous providers, to feel the satisfaction in the work we do, and how we do it. It’s not only a matter of new values to be found or either new channels to build the business upon. Is about our individual mentality, as individuals we are. 

The harsh reality is that probably we won′t have the happiness or joy on what we did, and now doing it in other way; with other “HOW”. In this new normal, if we want to anticipate a new joy, we need to find that passion in small and individual things, and put our heart and soul in finding a new way of loving our job. Only then we can truly help making our teams to find (each single element of it) a new individual and passionate way of doing his/ her job. 

Deep inside of us, most (maybe me included), are still believing that such love will appear naturally. It won′t. Most of us say out loud we are ready for the new normal, but deep inside, we believe that at some point we will feel again what the pandemic state took from us. But maybe, we still haven′t fully realized the ‘I’ in the equation. Maybe the first step we need to take, is to understand what drives us as individuals. Maybe, is the time to question, why did I do that, that way? Not the process. Not the output. ‘I’.

In the “We = I + You”, the ‘I’ changed more aggressively than we probably anticipated and, I believe, when it is “gone”, we won′t be able to bring it back. Using the example mentioned, not without a mask or the fear of thinking “who touched that?”, and a fear motivating the 'I' to touch the fruit with a glove. My Saturday morning joy is… needs to be… reformulated from now.

I called him (the vendor) yesterday afternoon to know how the market was. He said we was thrilled. He was right. He sold everything. He just missed me. 

Let us hope that the infected number won′t rise. But, looking at our culture, our individual culture, who can believe that? I don′t.

Last friday I waited for 20 minutes outside a supermarket. When I got in, I saw everyone by the meat balcony, just waiting for their number. Everyone inside the supermarket in a a few inches wide space. Why the wait outside? I just wanted to buy milk and no one was around it. Because all the "I" wanted to wait for their number, for meat.

Since the episode with "my" fruit vendor, I started a list of things I loved to do, and hardly will do it again. I share one example. 

At some point in my career a leader told me, “Never, ever, lunch alone”. And I never did since then. Not being able to do that, how does that affect my productivity, awareness, delivery or outputs? More than probably I would thought until this act of reflection. A part of the ‘I’, which I need to handle and to scalp upon, so that the ‘We’ formula remains, at its minimum, with the value it had. 

‘What is my new “lunch”?’ is just a question on the variable of the ‘I’ to be dealt, so that the ‘We’ can come out with a stronger value in the math of things.

Keep healthy. Stay strong.

Note: I lost weight in this “new normal”. Positive remark on the new ‘I’.