Rules Schmules
Published on January 28, 2008
Read more on Management, Marketing Inspiration
- A customer at a pack-and-ship store who wanted to tape his package was asked to do so outside. Huh? It turned out a woman had once sued the store for cutting her hand on its tape dispenser, and the company chose to avoid future lawsuits by banning the practice altogether. "One customer's misfortune inspired an unnecessary rule at the expense of 10,000 others who aren't clumsy and litigious," notes McConnell.
- In another logic-defying case, the manager of a high-end grocery store ordered an employee to release a shoplifter he had restrained, and then fired him for violating a hard-and-fast rule that prohibits employees from touching customers—a loose definition at best—for any reason.
More Inspiration:
Stephen Denny: The Green Bandwagon
Mark Goren: Plant Seeds Online to Cultivate Your Brand
Matt Dickman: 03 Is the New 30
by Oliver Feakins
