Recycle the White Pages!
For the last five years, the only reason I picked up the white pages phone book that was dropped on my doorstep was to see if my name was still in it. Come to think of it, I have not looked up a business in the yellow pages either for at least four years. So, why do we keep receiving these costly books that fewer and fewer people are reading? To use as a booster seat so small children are sitting higher up to more effectively eat their meal?
In the past, most phone companies, like AT&T, who control about 40 percent of the phone directory market, were required to produce phone books because of their monopoly. My question for today is, “Who uses these books?” Seniors without computers are probably the only people who find phone books necessary to have in their home.
A little late to change, the phone companies are now beginning to print phone books for only those customers who request them. When AT&T began its Residential White Pages Consumer Choice Program in Austin and Atlanta in December they were surprised to learn that only 3 percent of the residents in those cities requested a copy of the White Pages. In a competitive industry like the phone company, where it is difficult to make a profit, quick cost cutting is essential. This change is about five years too late.
In our seminars on Surviving and Thriving During Change we share the Seven Deadliest Words of Change… We Have Always Done It This Way. Nothing can kill an organization faster than refusing to change. Where does change begin? With you! In our newest book, Engaged! How Great Leaders Build Organizations Where Employees Love to Come to Work, we share 76 strategies that separate great leaders from the rest. Strategy #41 is Personally Change First. As a leader, you are the role model. The attitude you convey will be contagious. When leaders anticipate the need for change and get excited about role modeling the change, the dinosaurs either change or become extinct.
We believe that every organization has some “White Pages” hanging around. There are outdated policies, procedures, items in every organization that are automatically included in annual budgets. These “white pages” need to be recycled because they are no longer functional or valued by customers or employees. What are the “White Pages” in your organization? Recycle them today!
You may also like:
- Great Leaders are Great Learners
- Make Your Workplace a Happy Place, Even Now
- What Does it Take to Create a Workplace that Breathes Engagement?
Filed Under: In the News, Leading Change, Peter's Blog on May 4th, 2009
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