Guess what’s on my bathroom sink, neatly lined up with all my shampoos, soaps, electric beard trimmer, and dental floss:
A nice bottle of Tabasco Sauce.
It’s true. My housekeeper puts it there for me every week and ensures it’s fresh.
What the hell do I need Tabasco sauce in the bathroom for? Beats me.
But it seems Helena thinks I must indeed need it, because it’s there every week. And the thing is, she’s a VERY bright, alert, hard working, sweet woman.
Turns out a few months ago I was rushing around and suddenly realized I was late for an appointment while I was eating my lunch (Amy’s organic black bean soup). Apparently I didn’t want to stop eating it (it’s REALLY good) so I dragged it upstairs with me to the bathroom before I took a shower. Not the most grown up thing I ever did, but que sera’ sera’.
Anyway, since I work at home, my housekeeper tries to bother me as little as possible. She just tries to anticipate what I need and please me. And apparently she thought that henceforth I’d be using tabasco sauce in my bathroom routines.
And me, mister brilliant, educated doctor that I am, fell right into the routine thinking it was so neatly lined up, it looked like it really belonged there… maybe I AM supposed to do something with it. Of course, I kept meaning to say something, but I was just too busy.
So for months there’s been a bottle of tabasco sauce, needlessly sitting on my bathroom counter, for no reason at all, and my housekeeper’s been wasting time and effort thinking this is an important way to please me.
Which got me to thinking…
In total, there are over 30 people who work for me, some directly, some indirectly via various levels of management, etc… many of whom have probably developed ridiculous and superstitious routines in their efforts to please me.
And the truth is, there ARE certain things I’d like to have set up in the bathroom in a very particular way each day for myself, I just never bothered to write out the system and communicate it.
Similarly, how many OTHER things am I dismissing as trivial while people around me scramble to read my mind and make me happy?
If you’re going to outsource effectively as an entrepreneur, it’s something worth thinking about!
Do the people working for you REALLY know what it takes to please you? (Don’t answer too quickly)
Dr. G 
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Glenn, you are right. How many of us waste our time and the time of people who work for us because we fail to carefully consider our routines for ourselves, and we fail to articulate the goals and objectives of others to them. I’ll never look at a Tabasco bottle the same way again! JGB
Huh?
Doesn’t everybody keep Tabasco sauce in the bathroom?
Sounds like a good recipe for a HOT shower!
Howard
Haha…..lovely Helena, she sounds gorgeous.
Tabasco is a mixture of tomatoes,tomato paste,chili powder or organic chilis with salt,pepper and rich with antioxidant and you can also use it to expoliate your skin by rubbing it to not so sensitive areas and the results is great shining blushing glow,radiant skin that you will appreciate the outcome effectively.
great post – wonderful headline.
I’ve been trying to read my husband’s mind and anticipate what he wants / needs for about 40 years now. He’s absolutely convinced that I can, by the way, so sees no need to actually speak out loud. (But guess what, sometimes I guess wrong, because try as I might, I STILL haven’t mastered the art.)
Wonder if I can get him to read this post?
Hmmm. Sounds like one GREAT housekeeper.
Too funny, but also too true. Helena sounds like wonderful woman who has things well in hand, but the lesson I am hearing here goes to the heart of communicating needs and expectations.
Many people are frustrated on a daily basis by this very problem. The problem is that this can backfire in so many ways. Wasted or unappreciated effort, unmet expectations, and unhappy employees (or outsource contacts) who may look elsewhere or even give up trying if they come to the conclusion that it may be impossible to please no matter how hard they try. All for a simple lack of communication of expectations.
This has to be your most compelling post… and timely to boot. I’ve outsourced virtually for over 14 years with workers in 8 different countries. And your cute story carries echoes from 1000’s of my past experiences with outsource workers.
Driven, DaVinci-ype entrepreneurs struggle to communicate how we like things done, yet the good people around struggle just as mightily to second-guess the ingredients in the ’secret sauce’ that keeps Glenn or Jan happy campers. Bless their ever lovin’ hearts!
My past experiences with my own outsourcers echoes the same dynamic at work all the time. I wanted to communicate the Big Picture I see, but they just don’t get that. So, I’ve started each day with them reviewing my past mistakes and meditating on what my staffers really do want to know and hear from me. Then break it down into steps and pieces with clear directions.
I’m off next week to open my new office in Manila, the next step up from virtual outsourcing and will keep this vignette at the top of my mind. Communicating the ingredients of that secret sauce will be much easier doing it in person. And the first step is training my administrator who will be explaining the bits and pieces for me
Great story Glenn- I think you guys deliver your best content when you share this kind of stuff. My guilty pleasure with tabasco: 60 Second nachos- a few nacho chips, a pile of best British cheddar- topped with tabasco- in the microwave for 60 seconds…heart attack on a plate but a neat snack, not one for the emotional eating members. Martin- ‘the nacho guy’
Dr G,
Don’t take this Tabasco stuff lightly. This may be a sabotage attempt. Angry customer? Competitor? IRS?
What if someone is hoping that you will use this sauce accidentally for something else. Did you check the label? Is there a big H on it?
Got to watch out for these things you know.
Mark
how about just using it in the black bean soup while eating it in the bathroom?
Finally, someone who understands me
Glenn,
this is great observation on management practices in general. Besides the possibility of time wasting which cost the business, there is also the possibility of useful business information being withheld out of routine or “perceived” role/responsibility. I had a friend who found out his team was keeping back information that was actually quite vital to him. Why? they thought it was too trivial in one case and in other they thought it was their job and if they brought it up they would appear lacking – basically they were afraid of his reaction to the news and the possible impact it would have on their career. In the end, the cost to both the employees and the manager became quite high.
Glenn,
Your experience with Helena/Tabasco reminds me of a principle I see violated by most business people. And they experience similar results. The problem is leaving employees/contractors with too little structure. We often rely on people to do \"what we want/expect them to do\". What we should do, certainly from an employee/contractor standpoint is develop a system with structure.
Almost daily I have employers venting about their employees. When we really examine the problem, we discover that the employees were operating in the dark, with little or no system and poor structure.
If you are going to grow your business, you must develop systems and structure and within those systems and structure, allow the employees to design their work. Human beings are wonderful but they can conjure up some real wild actions that we would never dream possible.
So your experience is a great example of the need for clear direction, coupled with systems and structure.
Glenn,
If I understand you correctly here, the secret to getting more hyper-responsives is to start incorporating Tabasco sauce into your daily grooming routine.
All kidding aside, I agree with John, with one comment – TOO MUCH system/structure delivered at once will stun an employee into a state of complete catatonia. Break it up into reasonable, digestible chunks & slowly deliver that system in stages of increasing complexity.
My instant reaction was that this was going to be a lesson about mindfulness, and that YOU were intentionally keeping it in the bathroom.
If you got distracted and brushed with tobasco, it’d really wake you up and bring you to the present. The monk was enlightened! Ouch!
I too have the same troubles with tabasco sauce – I had to go cold turkey in the end.
I absolutely agree with you. I often hope people have the intuition to know what\’s required and try to work with people with initiative to take it one step further. I think the trick is to work with people who share your vision or at least the same love of tabasco sauce.
I think Glen should have Helena post her true comments unfettered…..
having people who can anticipate your perceived needs without drama is a major plus.
get a metrick: empty the tabasco bottle, and see if it is replaced.
:”But it seems Helena thinks I must indeed need it, because it’s there every week.”
i’d say she seems to think you want her to put it there every week.
:”Of course, I kept meaning to say something, but I was just too busy.”
so…lol..who is having the trouble managing??
Your eye catching headline ["TABASCO SAUCE IN YOUR BATHROOM" It Can Improve Your Outsourcing] caught my eye when skimming through your latest mailing.
I say skimming, as that’s exactly what I usually do with your mailings, you do pack a lot of reading unto them, & I’ve found I can be doing more “reading” than “doing” in this business, so have adopted a pretty severe “skimming” discipline.
Shows the power of a great headline, as I find myself taking time to write a comment. So much for my self imposed discipline!
I think you’ve nailed the problem we have as managers of employees, but also of entrepreneurs trying to find paying customers to purchase our products and services — just like we each have ourselves, they have so much going on, distractions and idiosyncratic needs and the odd bottle of Tabasco lurking in the bathroom. We focus sometimes so much on our own products, and yet our customers are dealing with their own life and work distractions and don’t have the mental space to think about the bigger issues we can help them with.
Thanks for the post — on top of the bigger business theme, it made me realize there are a couple mystery items lurking in several rooms of my house that I need to tidy up. And of course, I have a toddler too so on top of the regular “grownup” mystery items, no room would be complete without a few stray Legos.
Cheers,
Jennifer
Glenn,
I not only outsource, I actually insource, and I have a bigger problem with insourcers than with outsourcers. On the outsourced resources, I simply hire people who are smarter than me, and know how to do my job better than I do. Let them go for it, use their own processes, and I watch and learn
However, on the insourcing side, I thought “I’m an awesome educator. There’s not enough good people out in our field, let me train interns.”
I suck at it.
Honest, I catch myself doing exactly what I told myself I wouldn’t do as an educator.
I expect him to read my mind, understand the “basics” without teaching them, not giving enough credit for when he does really good, and not giving him a focused agenda / learning process.
I’ve wanted to create step-by-step videos, but apparently, I suck at it.
Now, after all that hating, I do have to say it’s been an amazing experience. “Intern” is smart & motivated, and is really starting to “get it”.
How do I slow down enough in my own business to effectively communicate all of those skills that make me able to handle my workload? More importantly, how do I separate myself from the day-to-day stuff, to enjoy taking the time to teach him in a patient & enjoyable manner for him & myself?
This is a bit different than the tabasco sauce story of yours, but I’d be interested to hear your thoughts either way.
Hi Dave
I’m certainly not an outsourcing or business management expert, but I’d highly recommend you read (or re-read) “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber.