The Eternal Journey

The Eternal Journey

Vanilla ka Bhoot... Dar gaya General Motors...

This is a brilliant example of the power of logical thinking.

This is a real story that happened. One day, the Pontiac division of General Motors received a complaint from one of its customers.
'This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem.....

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store, my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?"

The Pontiac president was understandably skeptical about the letter, however, he sent an engineer to study the case.

The engineer on reading the complaint, as usual, expected the customer to be some less educated person, however, was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a well-educated man in a very good neighbourhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it did not start.

The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.
Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He requested, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. His boss, a rational man, agreed and gave a go ahead. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas used, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue; The man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Eureka. Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapor lock".

It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

And then, there was the solution available at his disposal. And the customer complaint, addressed.

Some Management Lessons from this Management Story

1. Never underestimate your customer and never ignore a customer complaint, no matter how foolish it sounds.

2. Never jump to conclusions no matter how experienced you are. Take time to analyze and identify the Root Cause.

3. 'Silent' minutes of observation, many times gives you a lot of inputs than 'Loud' years of experience.

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About Uday Sankar Yerramilli

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