About 10 months ago, our faithful Maytag dishwasher gave up the ghost, puffing its last sigh of hot drying air on the collected table settings and cutlery of a Friday family meal.
The very next day, my wife and I replaced it with a shiny, new, high-end machine from Miele.
Only problem is that the new, sleeker machine was about two inches narrower than the hole left by the departed Maytag. We made a note to call our contractor and order a customized piece of molding to match the kitchen and close up the offending gap (see the offensive gash at right).
So here I sit, composing this blog post, 10 months later, and that hole still stares me in the face.
Why?
Because it's become "part of the furniture."
This gaping wound used to drive me nuts. For the first few weeks, it was an ugly daily reminder of a job unfinished, a scar on my otherwise perfect kitchen, a source of embarrassment that I would hide from others by leaning against it.
These days, after countless calls to the contractor, two missed appointments of repair and a handful of "I'll do it myself over the weekend," I hardly notice it anymore.
What was once jarring is now invisible.Which brings me to this week's learning--the importance of using Virgin Eyes.
The concept of Virgin Eyes was one of the key points I introduced in my Pow! book (for the two or three of you reading this who have still not purchased it, you can do so by clicking here), under the tactic "Wear Virign Contact Lenses." In a nutshell:
"Wearing Virgin Contact Lenses enables you to paradoxically see things again for the first time. Directions are simple: insert, then look at your product, your service, your dilemma as if you've never seen it before."
The lack of Virgin Eyes causes corporate blight, and stains reputations of businesses large and small. I see it all the time:
- the crack in the elevator mirror
- the piece of loose brown countertop held in place by a square of grey duct tape
- the boardroom wall marred by chipped paint and holes where hooks used to hold paintings
- the exposed extension cord or snake of computer wires
- the frayed edge of a laminated restaurant menu
...I can go on forever.
The chestnut cliche "Time Heals All Wounds" is indeed true physically; the passage of days and weeks renders the aberration into the commonplace.
But emotionally? Spiritually? Reputationally? (Hey, I just coined a new term!) Your customer, your client, your friends don't see things the same way you do. What has become invisible to your eyes is still harsh to theirs.
So the lesson here is to see the everyday as if it were the first day. Notice the things that others will notice...and fix the ones that you'd rather they wouldn't.
Trust me, it will make a difference. A very positive difference.
That said, lemme call that damn contractor one last time...