Troubleshooting vs Tantrums

When I worked for T-mobile, one very simple part of the job was troubleshooting.  A customer would come in and they would have a problem with their phone or mobile hotspot.  Troubleshooting and I had a love/hate relationship.  I loved trying to figure out the problem but I hated the wrath that would sometimes come with it.  I remember one instance when a gentleman walked into the store and threw his phone at me.  I didn't even have a chance to greet him before it was:

"This piece of [Insert your own word here] is not working!"

I looked at him with a blank stare.  It always bugged me when customers would come in on a tyrant.  I can understand when people get frustrated, heck I get frustrated but we are adults and we can have adult conversations about what the problem is.  You don't need to use obscene language or kick or scream or throw things at me to get your point across.  You can tell me what the problem is and I can troubleshoot it to get it fixed.  THERE IS ALWAYS A SOLUTION.  Whether it is a simply powering the phone off and turning it back on, doing a warranty exchange, buying a new device, etc. The customer may not like the solution at hand BUT THERE IS ALWAYS ONE.

Unfortunately, having an adult conversation with a 7 year old doesn't always work.  So two nights ago, Hannah had one of her horrible tantrums.  It was a two hour drawn out, screaming, kicking and crying.  She had missed school on Tuesday and had Monday off so that led to being two days behind in homework.  This then through her off schedule and she needed to complete two spellings per day and two math assignments per day.  Not only that but she had to do her Lucky Listeners which is reading a poem 5 times to an audience. I warned her prior to starting her homework that she was going to have extra to do.   The first assignment went smoothly.  Then all hell broke loose and the flood gates opened.  I then gave her her options: She could choose to calm down and do her homework with me or she could go to her room until she calmed down, and then do her homework.  She choose to go to her room.  After an hour of full on screaming, I went and talked to her.  I told her she could have me help her do her homework or she could miss recess because she didn't get it done.  These were her options.  After more battling and her dad coming home from work, she finally calmed down and she finished her homework. After she had calmed down, I troubleshooted the tantrum. The route cause of the drama:  She was overwhelmed and hadn't taken her medication for the day.  The solution: Give her breaks in between homework assignments and make sure she takes her meds the next day so we don't have a repeat.

Most customers left my store happy.  Once I got them calmed down and explained their options, or even fixed the route cause, they left with a smile on their face.  Hannah went to bed last night with a smile on her face.

 It all came down to troubleshooting and finding a solution. Last night turned out so much better because we played out the solution from the night before.  Hannah apologized to me for her behavior, something I didn't see much of in the corporate world.

As for the customer who threw his phone at me because it wasn't working...he didn't have the battery in it.  Once I pointed that out to him, he grabbed the phone and walked out.  His option was to put the battery back in his phone.


It's funny how in the corporate world, adults can act like 7 years olds and 7 year olds can act like adults. 

Steve Maraboli said it best: "Sometimes problems don't require a solution to solve them, they require maturity to outgrow them."