It’s a pretty dreary winter morning.  You walk into the office and are met by laughs, jokes and the smell of pancakes wafting right out of the break room.  

Someone has set up an impromptu pancake breakfast for the office, complete with a condiment bar.

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Why?  

Why not?

When was the last time you delighted the office.  All you need is  a double burner, a couple of pans and, depending upon your crew, a bucket of pancake mix.

Brighten someone else’s day.  Brighten your own.  Be the change you wish to see.

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Okay, okay.  You’re tight in the collar and can’t quite justify something this frivolously fun.

Fine, let’s find an object lesson in our breakfast.

Here’s a story.  We’re making pancakes and moving along the line, one gloriously produced pancake after the other, and everyone is happy.  

Then, all of a sudden, one of our friendly faces asks for a custom cake - jelly inside the cake itself.

Do you do it?  Think carefully.

We did.  Of course, everyone in line after that was asking for custom cakes.  Some with two kinds of jellies, some with syrup baked in.  Some with M&Ms and some even with Fruit Loops.  Once the custom seal is broken that’s all you’ll do.

Effects.  

The line took longer - so the pancake customers had to wait - and some turned away.  And it got more complex so we had to bring in or become real experts for the custom pancake-cookery.

On the other hand, people got exactly what they wanted and most were happy to pay more by waiting in line a big longer. They were special.  And our custom pancakery got pretty snazzy in the process.

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Something to think about - pros and cons.  There’s no right decision for everybody.  The only sure outcome is that whatever you choose will set you down a definite path.

Now go have a pancake :-)