Lessons of the Lemonade Stand
by Lois MelbourneMy seven-year old son hosted a lemonade stand this weekend. It was hot! Texas in August always is. But he made a lot of money for a seven-year old. Both my son and his parents learned a number of lessons. Something like a good location is even important for a lemonade stand. Our neighborhood is awesome. Runners never carry money, but if they really wanted a drink they’d come back with it in a few minutes.
My favorite lesson learned comes from my son’s toughest challenge. After we closed the stand and went back to the house to count the revenue and cool off, we asked him what he liked and what he found hard. He said, “The hardest thing was pleasing people. Trying to find out which item they really wanted to buy.”
I believe that’s a challenge anyone selling anything faces, but also should be a focus for the HR department. How do you please your “customer?” How do you find out what is important to them and make sure you’re delivering what they need? Surveys are good, but usually most powerful if you follow them up with deeper investigation. If the number one response to the question of “what would make you happier about your job” is “a flexible work schedule,” you better not stop there and simply name summer hours thinking you’re done with it. Flexible means different things to different people. Just like “I would like a drink” required questions of how much they wanted to spend or what flavor drink they wanted. You need to ask a lot of questions. If your firm is scared of asking open ended questions then give examples and options that the company can support, and get your feedback from your employees.
When asked what he thought he did best, that was an easy answer for my son. “I invented a new drink (The Watermelon Cooler, let me know if you want the recipe) and everybody who drank it said it was great.”
Ahh, innovation and pride. When you allow innovation within your organization and individuals, their sense of pride increases. Their sense of accomplishment increases, and your potential to find new markets or please your customers more completely increases.
The lessons of entrepreneurship were just as amazing, but that can be saved for another conversation.
Cheers,
Lois
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