The Things that Bug Us

Greetings.  Spring is one of my four favorite seasons.  A chance for warm days, energizing rains, and a symphony of flowers and colors that brighten the spirit. It's also a time for an amazing world of bugs to wake up and, well, bug us.  I guess that's where the expression comes from.  Ants, mosquitoes, bees, worms, hornets, wasps, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, ticks, and even termites if we aren't protected. Creepy, crawling marvels of nature, with amazing skills and total determination to eat, drink, tunnel, build, sting, nest, attach, suck, and do whatever they need to in order to survive.  And, while I like to say that it is important to coexist with these little buggers, there are times when they seem to get the better of me.  Times when I feel grossly outnumbered and in need of a bit of help or a place to hide.

Don't get me wrong.  I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for bugs.  If you recall, I wrote a post a few months ago about a fascinating new book that suggests that earthworms have been far more important to the development of our planet than humans.  But I don't have the desire to spend the next several months scratching, spraying, and hiding behind tiki torches and semi-tropical repellent candles.  

Which leads me to the following observation.  Sometimes in our heroic quest to serve customers, we actually bug them.  By not paying careful attention to their needs.  Or buzzing around them without adding any real value.  Or failing to bring them the right new ideas.  Or failing to alert them to impending danger.  Or making them uncomfortable in ways that won't lead to greater success.  Or failing to give them real alternatives.  Or keeping them from focusing on the things that really matter.

We win in business and in life by knowing when to help and when to bug off.  The real key is understanding the difference.  

Cheers!