From Catfish to Cat-Fight

Yesterday my wife set out some catfish fillets to thaw on the counter, leading me to look forward to a nice meal after work.  However, by the time I got home, my poor spouse had experienced a stressful day between clients, the kids, the dog barking too much... She needed a break.  So, I was informed dinner was up to me.  My never having made catfish before was not a deterrent- I was told to look up recipes on the internet.

I did, finding one after a few minutes of searching.  It wasn't too hard, either.  It involved breading the fillets in an Italian dressing/egg mixture, with parmesan cheese, pepper and garlic powder mixed in with the bread crumbs (then bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes).  The recipe said to put aluminum foil on the baking pan, so I did.  When it was coming out of the oven, my wife came down from her respite and immediately asked me about the foil: "Why did you use foil?  I never use foil- have you ever seen me use foil?"  I became a bit defensive, explaining that the recipe said to use foil.  I was directed never to use foil again, prompting an argument.  Ultimately, though, my wife had to concede the fish turned out great.

The lesson I derived from that incident was the importance of "letting go" if you're going to delegate without specific instructions.  We all have our own ways of accomplishing our duties, and- to us- our ways are the best.  When you tell an employee or coworker (or anyone else) to undertake a task, however, you have to decide if you're really only worried about the end result.  If you're concerned with how the task is performed, then you need to be up-front and clear in your wishes.  Otherwise, you cannot expect that everyone will perform functions in the same sequence and manner that you do.  Maybe, by not being specific, you can even learn a new (better) way to do the jobs you've always done.

At Obbee, we only have one job: providing internet-based sales leads to the real estate, mortgage, insurance (home & health), debt settlement and loan modification industries.  We can even match up prospects with professionals in real time.  Our methods are proprietary, but the end results are terrific... and do not ever involve aluminum foil.  :)

- Dave