We had a perplexing problem with one of our garage door openers, as in it wouldn’t close, which usually means the safety beam is out of whack. My friend and I tried all kinds of stuff after trying to move the sensors in case they were out of line.
So I cleaned out the lenses with a wet Q-tip, and it worked. Then it didn’t, cleaned it again, it works, doesn’t work, repeat, etc. Finally, I took off one of the sensors to clean it and voila, there’s some stuff in the lens that looks like a little caterpillar cocoon. The Q-tip pushed it aside, but it would fall back into place, blocking the lens. Once removed, no problems.
It’s often the unseen things that get in the way.
- One of my clients had a professional evaluation of the business (not a valuation but an operational assessment). One of the items in the report was, “the employees have an informal union,” meaning they were setting their own work polices, rules, etc.
- A company thought their top customer (25%) was in love with them. In fact, it was the opposite. They were interviewing other providers and didn’t even ask for a quote from their existing vendor.
- A rep firm did 80% of their business with one manufacturer, they switched firms, he almost went bankrupt, we turned it around, and guess what? Ten or so years later the same thing happened (although closer to a 50% manufacturer). Blinded by success he couldn’t see the risk.
There are too many techniques (to go over here) to see most of what has been unseen. It just takes the effort to peek behind the curtain.
“You’ve got to tell the world how to treat you. If the world tells you how you are going to be treated, you are in trouble.” James Baldwin
