On Sunday mornings, we have this routine where on our way to church, we always stop by this same McDonalds to get my wife a sausage McMuffin. Other than that and their extra large drinks for $.99 (which is a steal!), we don’t eat at McDonalds. Once you’ve seen Supersize Me, you won’t either! But my wife is pregnant and so when it comes to food, whatever sounds good, that’s what we go with!
And so we always go to the same McDonalds and there is always the same guy working the drive thru. And he is always in a bad mood and is never pleasant. I guess I would be cranky too if I worked at McDonalds!
But despite how he acts, we come back each Sunday morning. Why?
Because the level of expectation for a McDonalds is relatively low. There are certain expectations when you go anywhere and so you treat each experience differently. If you go to McDonalds, you’re pleased if the order is correct and you don’t have to wait in line for more than a few minutes. But if they screw up the order or if the drive thru guy isn’t pleasant, it’s not that big of a deal because it’s only McDonalds.
But if you have that same experience at a 5 star restaurant, it may very well ruin your evening out. Why? Because the level of expectation is completely different. The bar is set higher. All of this raises two important points:
- Your expectation helps determine your experience. If you are expecting a miserable experience, you can probably find a way to make the best experience a miserable one.
- What’s the level of expectation that people have when they experience what you do and what you’re a part of? If you’re planning a conference, are they expecting an outstanding experience because they know you do things with excellence or are they expecting to find a half-hearted effort?
Tell us about an experience that really exceeded all your expectations…
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