The pool at a top hotel in LA has several cabanas. These can be rented for day use, allowing non-residents to use the facilities and it gives a guaranteed seat to residents with a sense of privacy. In order to promote the packages more, last year the Spa Director together with the F&B* Director set-up a program where the cabanas could be rented in packages. 

The packages targeted different groups, included drinks, iHomes and spa treatments. It did not sell. With the new seasons underway new packages were developed. If they can do it in Vegas, it will work in LA too was the approach.

The new concept was segregated per user. One for the business user, one for families, one for party animals and one for the healthy. The entire Food & Beverage department was excited. The Spa Director supported the plans. The names were picked in line with the cocktail menu - cocktails were from different regions in the world and so the cabana packages were given city names. Now it was all about promotion. The plan was given to the PR director to proof read. Instead it was reevaluated by her and the Director of Sales and Marketing. 

They hated it. They did not understand why one package included dinner, a show and entrance to a nightclub. The way it looked was seen as childish. The names were irrelevant. The plans were very daring and out of the box and some resistance should have been expected. The excitement within the F&B department did not spread to S&M. Mostly to blame was the way the program was presented. Instead of setting up a meeting and explaining the idea, an e-mail was sent without much explanation for proof reading. An important lesson was learned; do not assume others who are not involved in  process will understand what you are doing. 

If the team that is to promote the product does not support it, the product won't sell. They will not pull out the same resources as for something they love & support. On top of that, subconsciously they will want to prove they are right that it was a bad idea. The Director of F&B requested for the entire plan to be redeveloped even though he supported it. The decision was based on the below theory:

"Quality X Acceptance = Excellence X Effectiveness"

The new program will be less exciting and less innovative. However it will be presented with passion and conviction. The lesson that everything needs to be sold internally before it can be sold externally was learned. In this case, the price was high. The S&M department no longer have an open mind but a set idea about what they would like to see presented. 

Being the main developer of the program and fond believer of the aforementioned theory, a new program is being developed and tailored to what the S&M department thinks will work. And next time, a formal meeting with a passionate presentation will be arranged before any proof reading occurs... 

* Food & Beverage

Pain, change, results & happiness

After attending a training on change in behavior, it was interesting to see that this had recently applied to myself.

I worked in food & beverage from early on in life and recently I felt it was time for change. Mostly because in my new work environment I could not implicate the passion I have for the product. Suddenly the sacrifices for the job became more and more obvious... It was a strain on my marriage as I was never free/home to do anything as a couple. 

So I decided to apply for business school and use this to open the doors to a different life. The pain from my job had gotten big enough to make a change, so I took the leap, took the GMAT, wrote essays and got accepted. 

Then I got moved to a different department. More food & beverage related, more passionate co-workers and interaction with guests as well as more responsibilities. I even had a regular schedule; starting at 8 AM daily. The pain was gone. My new boss was talking promotion and hinted towards a position that I would love... Was it the right choice to leave now?

A company I worked for loves "7 habits of highly effective people" and regularly trains their managers on the concepts in this book and I attended one too right when this was happening. This training made me realize why  I was motivated to make the change. I also realized that this initial motivation was no longer there, which fueled my doubt. Yet it taught me that even though my motivation for change was the 'sacrifice reward' balance. 

The 'pain' had pushed me to consider change - the fact that the situation changed and the pain was gone did not change the fact that the change stayed what is good for me, my wife, or marriage and our future lives together. Then a friend and co-worker, asked me what choice I had made. She told me to consider the implications of each decision and she asked me what my goals in life are. It was eye opening. I realized my goals had changed but I was still working towards my 'old' goals - I was on the verge of change and clinging on what I had built up. No matter how good I was at what I was doing, staying would not help me achieve where I wanted to go.

The key in this conversation was that she made me realize that in order to be successful you should evaluate your goals on a regular basis. If they have changed, evaluate what you need to do differently to obtain these new goals. Working backwards and inventing everything twice, like most of us do in our professional world, can easily be applied to our private life and will help obtaining that happiness.