Knobs
I’ve been on the road a lot this year. My Executive Platinum luggage tags from American Airlines just came in the mail. Lots of travel means lots of hotels—lots of hotel showers. I despise hotel showers.
Every single one is different. Each feels uniquely designed to break all known conventions. Some have separate hot and cold knobs. Others have a handle, or a stick, or a shape never seen before. It might be a pull, a twist, a turn, or a slide. Sometimes it is a combination of two or three chrome-plated devices that only function if manipulated in the proper sequence.
Most businesses, if not all, are primarily in the business of making money. Some, including my last two employers, are subject to vocal shareholders. Their objective is to drive value, or at least create volatility, in the stock’s price. Money is made in the stock market when stock prices are moving.
If companies don’t listen to their shareholders, they risk having more sellers than buyers and their stock price decreasing. Some shareholders push hard to drive short-term value—only short-term value. Most decisions that benefit the short-term rarely benefit the long-term. Often, they are in direct competition with what would be beneficial in the long term. Once the gains of the immediate benefits are gone, things start to go bad. When things get too bad, these shareholders can sell and move on to other stocks. Meanwhile, the company, its team members, and guests are left with a husk of the company’s former self.
Employees and customers often benefit most from a company’s longevity. They benefit when value is delivered consistently over time. For most shareholders, their commitment to a company is limited to the moments they buy or sell their shares. Their “skin in the game” disappears as soon as they sell.
I suspect hotel shower designers seek the short-term enjoyment of designing something novel. I can’t imagine they are even considering the pain of everyone who will have to use their design in the future.
I must make different decisions if I know something matters for a long time versus a short time. I need to be careful in listening to people who don’t have anything at stake in the long-term effects of their advice. I must be careful in giving advice to people when I don’t have a stake in the long-term effects of their decision.
Maybe all hotel shower designers should be subjected to a shower designed by a compatriot until they all agree that form over function is paramount for a road-weary traveler just trying to rinse the airport off of them. Although maybe not. I’m afraid I might be forced to face the long-term consequences of my short-sighted advice.
Am I building for attention or endurance? Does the source of the advice understand its weight? Have I stood where they stand?
Be curious, be kind, be whole, do good things.