You can’t talk about Mario without talking about the original Nintendo console.  This week is about how temperamental those original game cartridges were and being easy to work with.  This entry is inspired by a nostalgic trip down memory lane that Jenna Alspaugh took me on.

The Nintendo console was launched in the 1980s with Super Mario as the flagship game.  When the console worked, it was amazing!  You were instantly transported to the mushroom kingdom to experience a new type of entertainment.  The only problem is that the console didn’t always work immediately.  Getting it to work was like performing a ritual for the video game gods and hoping for their blessing.  You’d grab the video game cartridge, blow into it to clean it, insert it into the system, wiggle it just slightly, say a few more prayers, and then hit the power button.  You’d repeat variations of this until it finally worked.   

Let’s connect this to work.  Whether or not you’ve ever played Super Mario, we’ve all likely ran into some version of having to put in a lot of extra effort just to make something work correctly.  When have you interacted with processes or systems that were just difficult?  When have you interacted with people who were just difficult?  How did those make you feel?  In both experiences, I’ve left those situations feeling frustrated and wondering if it was worth it or not.  Also, I felt less inclined to use that service or partner with that person again.  Also, since we are being honest, have you had times where you were being the difficult person?  (sheepishly raises his hand)  While it’s true that bumps and mistakes are going to happen, we can also ensure we are doing things to make it as easy as possible for customers and partners to work with us.

The challenge: How can we make it easier for customers to interact with our products and solutions?  How can we make it easier for individuals to partner with us?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry