Ends up that those on the first floor got discouraged and quit, and those on the tenth floor moved to another building where the elevator operators were glad to stop at their floor.
With fewer tenants, the revenues of the office building declined. When the former customers told all their acquaintances about the poor service, the office building experienced many years of difficulty attracting new customers.
As a fitting reward for their genius, the elevator operators all lost their jobs. They were quite surprised by the news. As far as THEY could tell, everyone was happy. The people they worked with every day (the 80 percent in the middle) had no complaints. It was only the unseen 20 percent who were unhappy and voted silently, by moving elsewhere.
In retrospect, it would have been better to try to please ALL of the building's customers, instead of 80 percent in the middle.
Does the above story sound far-fetched? Can it happen in square dancing? IT HAPPENS AT ALMOST EVERY SQUARE DANCE! And, we CONDONE this strategy! Callers are "supposed" to call to 80 percent of the floor, the logic being that 10 percent of the dancers will be "bored" no matter what is called, and another 10 percent won't be able to "keep up" no matter how low the level.
CAN ANY BUSINESS AFFORD TO LOSE 20 PERCENT OF THEIR CUSTOMERS?? We can no longer please only 80 percent of the dancers. We've got to please 'em ALL. We don't have any surplus dancers we can afford to run off!
What are some possible solutions? How about COMPROMISE!
We don't see enough compromising, and we see too many ultimatums:
- "Call interesting material, or I'll get bored and QUIT!"
- "Call something I can do, or I'll get discouraged and QUIT!"
Is it possible to please new dancers while at the same time keep existing
dancers entertained? Probably not -- if you're dealing in ultimatums!
Probably so -- if you're willing to compromise.
A solution along these lines was posted last month:
>> Subject: Spice it up
>> Date: 96-10-23 03:28:55 EDT
>> From: RBSqDancer@aol.com
>>
>> I realize that what the caller feels the majority wants will
>> be the type of dance the caller will call. I will accept that
>> when I go to a MS/Plus dance that there will probably be one
>> tip that will have two singing calls. This is fine.
Most
>> attendees at the dance like the singing calls.
>>
>> However, I suggest that during at least one tip per dance a
>> caller should also try calling some more intricate choreo.
>> ::snip:: Call this your tuffy tip or give it some other name.
>>
>> ::snip:: I think it is fine to sprinkle an occasional dash
>> of garlic and spice in the otherwise bland dance that the
>> majority might crave.
Sounds like a great idea! Pre-announce a "tuffy tip" and present some ultra-challenging material. During that ONE tip. NOT ALL NIGHT LONG! During the same dance, have a tip of easy material. Try to please EVERYONE, instead of selecting which 80 percent to keep and which 20 percent to run off, and then being delighted that we lost ONLY 20 percent of our customers!
Nasser "this story is fictional -- there aren't REALLY
any elevator operators anymore" Shukayr