Oops – Something Went Wrong

Sometimes things don’t work the way they are supposed.*

Machines break down, services fall short of expectations, or systems fail to deliver when needed. Of course, this could happen with people too.

Even though a good designer of a product or service should have some protocols in place when things don’t work as planned, no one ever wants things to break down.

Sh*t Happens

Some products, services, and professionals are built to be there when something isn’t working. Think of emergency room personnel, after-hours appliance repair companies, tow-truck drivers, or locksmiths. Who hasn’t been thankful for a tech support wizard or a neighbor with an extra egg or cup of sugar at just the right moment mid-recipe?

Mistakes happen. Errors will occur. Things run smoothly…until they don’t.

Ctrl-Alt-Delete

I’ll paraphrase here but sometimes you can’t control what happens but you can control how you react to what happens. Here are a few ideas for the next time something doesn’t go as planned…

• Start over
• Ask for help
• Apologize
• Take a deep breath
• Read the instructions
• Laugh it off
• Try again
• Hire a professional
• Re-read the instructions

Finger Crossed It’ll Work This Time

Last week, I replaced the parts inside one of our toilets. After finishing up the job, I crossed my fingers and said the Amateur Plumber Prayer which goes, “Please let it work.” I turned the water on only to find out that one of the bolts on the tank wasn’t fastened all the way and the toilet leaked.

It leaked a lot!

I checked several ideas off the list above and, thankfully, it’s working now.

*Last week I posted a new blog post here. Sadly, it never was sent to my email subscribers. I’m not sure why because all the settings seemed to be updated. I spoke to tech support on both ends and there didn’t seem to be any issues.

And now, as I get ready to hit “publish”, I’ll just cross my fingers that it’ll work this time.

If not, I’ll re-read the instructions and try again.