Sometimes, it’s more than the whole that accounts for quality. Sometimes, it’s in the details, even small details. Some people seem to have the opinion that running a service and offering features, keeping things up to date, secure, but evenly balanced and friendly for the client base, is a reactive task, or one they view as merely a task to perform.

The popular view on systems administrators, is one that if they are too involved and enjoy the job and take pleasure in it, that they will end up being a techno-geek that is rude, terse, unhelpful or essentially carry the attitude or manner about them that makes them unable or unwilling to communicate details to the client base in times of support or even pre-sales questions. This is sometimes the case, but as usual, it’s the person that fails to live up to the simple task, rather than the job details or enjoyment and delving into the subject that has this result.

One doesn’t have to be related to the other and should be the opposite of the negatives you see and hear (and experience) at the hands of support representatives, be it the local cable, dish, or phone provider, or calling with a simple inquiry if you happen to already know the answers and want a simple yes or no about supplies. Indeed, one’s enjoyment and growing interest and skillset should have different results, more positive, more helpful, knowledgeable staff, yet not losing touch with the important things or being unable to explain or help in a way that doesn’t require similar knowledge from the client base, and also still having respect and patience. For some reason, this is sadly uncommon in the technical field, and I fail to understand why. Luckily, this is something we don’t experience here between fellow staff and I’m glad for that fact.

What a difference the details do make, and the pride of service and quality. These things seem lost in the service world today and greed seems to be the primary motivating factor for the foundation of many businesses today. Why not have a successful business you can take pride in, instead of creating a business to create fear in your staff, having them worry about their financial future, all for the purposes of greed or egoism? Look at the Japanese, so many people living in such small areas of Tokyo, living in their own areas of commerce, the work force and private pleasures, and places that cater to those specifics; Each area is so specific in their services, they excel to a degree where these small details are magnified and it really shows. A small bar that only holds 6-8 people, a knife making factory, the art of arrangements and so much more. Details so defined and with so much care that you can find that simple pleasure of drinking at a neighborhood “pocket bar” that it’s nearly perfection. Adding all of these things together, makes it that much better, from the product to the service, the quality is there.

These simple things, the desire to delve deeper into a subject, the pride of craftsmanship, word of mouth, a good day of serving your client base and knowing everyone is happy at the end of the day or shift, is a good feeling. People don’t seem to care to strive for that much anymore, probably because they are busy worrying about profits, sales tricks, and have their head in the clouds and their feet elsewhere. It’s good to break away, relax and not worry about every little thing, but when it gets to the point of recklessness, uncaring and poor service, it starts to affect the clients. There’s always room for improvement, and a chance for a small detail to have a major impact now or later in a positive way, especially when you consider all of the small details that add up to the whole of the quality and experience. Unfortunately, this just isn’t the norm for many companies, and we all see it. It would be nice to see a mass change in this manner of thinking and view by some companies, though I won’t be holding my breath. Rather, I’ll enjoy perfection of things both big and small and always work for something better. I know there are those out there whom appreciate it, I know I do.