“An expectation is a premeditated resentment.”
-Unknown

I encourage you to meditate on the above sentence for a few minutes. How true has this statement been in your personal life?  How about in your business interactions, with peers, supervisors, and/or customers?

I have witnessed people struggle for years with personal relationships, family relationships, and business relationships for one simple reason: The expectations they had created for the behavior of others — followed by those individuals’ subsequent “failure” to meet these expectations — were mostly unrealistic, untenable, and more importantly, usually unspoken. No one can meet an unspoken expectation no matter how noble the intent!

Meeting “Unset” Expectations

Professionally speaking, the opening sentence could even be reworded to state: “An unset expectation is a premeditated resentment.” From the beginning, some relationships have little chance of succeeding. These doomed relationships have characteristics in common – especially the lack of communication about expectations.  You have heard the term “set-up to fail”? This article from the Harvard Business Review discusses employee-manager relationships, making the universal point that “set-up-to-fail” relationships are both self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing, a vicious cycle indeed.

The first three years I worked at the Charlotte, NC campus. I was one of the guys on the other end of the line when the company’s internal IT experts couldn’t figure out the problem. I was very successful at this position for some important reasons:

• I learned how to set customer expectations early, and properly.
• I was always honest with my customers, regardless of the consequences. My experience has been, and continues to be, that customers value honestly above all else.

Going Beyond — Exceeding Customer Expectations

The entrepreneur Richard Branson, in this recent article, has some insightful words on expectations and how exceeding them can build your brand. He explains, “The key is to set realistic customer expectations, and then not to just meet them, but to exceed them — preferably in unexpected and helpful ways. Setting customer expectations at a level that is aligned with consistently deliverable levels of customer service requires that your whole staff, from product development to marketing, works in harmony with your brand image.”

Tips for Building Reputation and Avoiding Resentments

Trust is a key element of any relationship. A reputation over an extended period of time garners trust. So how can we continue to build on this reputation and further exceed our customer expectations while avoiding the creation of resentments?

1. We communicate expectations clearly and lucidly at the beginning of the customer relationship.
2. We continue to communicate throughout the process, both with the customer, and internally.
3. We acknowledge challenging areas with honesty and integrity at the onset, and whenever needed, as the relationships move forward and develop.
4. We not only deliver on those expectations, but we exceed them, and we are able to do this because those expectations have been set appropriately from the beginning.
5. If we fail to meet a customer expectation, we own that failure as a team and as a company. We take responsibility. We then do whatever is necessary to reset, and then deliver, with honest communication throughout this process as well.

To make this advice memorable, think MINT:

• Maintain open and honest communication with the customer from the onset.
• Investigate potential challenges early and often.
• Never assume the mint is already in place. Assign responsibilities at the onset and maintain accountability for those responsibilities.
• Take responsibility for shortcomings and failures, as well as the successes!

The Power of Commitment

Will you be perfect with every deliverable and exceed every expectation? No. Any endeavor involving the human element will be flawed at times, but what you can do is commit, both individually and as a company, to this level of attention and ownership while striving to improve every day.

What are you doing to properly set – and exceed – expectations? How do you continuously improve your ability to do so? Share your insights in comments.

Surfing is easily the most challenging sport that I have ever attempted. It is truly humbling and the environment changes daily. Hey, sounds a little like the IT world, doesn’t it?

As I paddled out the other day, the parallels to the IT world really struck me.   Surfing is all about patience and position. It takes years of experience to understand differing conditions: tides, wind direction, swell type, intervals, and their impact.  Even with some experience, there still remains the challenge to be in the proper position to catch the wave and having the patience to wait for the right one. It’s generally not recommended to surf alone as there are sharks in the water. Here are 3 life lessons I’ve learned from my time “swimming with sharks” that will help today’s IT professionals:

1. Ride the waves.

The parallels between surfing and IT security are numerous, as security is known for its thrills and spills from the largest corporation to Aunt Sue at her home computer. The majority of security threats are not complex, but simple, and rely more on the impatient, unsuspecting, frustrated, or inexperienced user rather than some ingenious hacker’s “brilliant” code.  Yes, there are sharks in the water, but the disgruntled admin employee and impatient end user still remain the number 1 threat, as this recent top 10 study reminds us.  Vigilance and education are key to avoiding the risks associated with these security threats. In the corporate world starts with dedicated security teams, with regular 3^rdparty audits.

2. Put pride aside for a fuller understanding.

When it comes to position, one of the biggest obstacles can be pride. Just a hot-shot surfer ignoring his limits, pride can get in the way in the security world. In American culture, pride is drilled into us all. The truth of the matter is that in life (and especially in IT work), pride hurts us much more often than it helps us. Don’t let pride or ego get in the way. Be in the proper position.

Have a full understanding of that change you are about to make on that corporate email server, or that security update you are about to install on that small business server, or don’t make the change until you do. Understand all of the implications to the back end systems, as well as the end user, before making changes. This requires well educated and trained employees who understand the big picture for the deployment, architecture, design, etc. Talk to your peers. Talk to the vendor. Admitting you need help is not a sign of weakness, but of wisdom. It’s not about you alone; a security breach could affect thousands.

3. Patience can deliver perfect results.

What happens if I’m not patient in the water? I might jump on a decent wave, but miss the perfect ride two waves later because I am out of position. Be patient. Don’t click on that Google search link just because it came up first. Hover over it and ensure it is going where you think it is and not directly to a malicious .exe . It’s easy to take that precaution by watching  the status toolbar at the bottom of your IE window. Do the same with email links.

What happens when I’m having a bad day in the water? Impatient, out of position, crashing and burning all day? I need to practice acceptance. There will be bad days. Getting past them is what matters.

 What are some security recommendations that you’ve put in place? Have you learned lessons in the great outdoors that apply to your workplace? Share them below, and remember: Be patient, be in the right position, and enjoy the ride!

He brings a range of experience to the job and holds certifications for numerous operating systems. In the second quarter of 2012, Victor received AT&T’s Applications and Services Infrastructure Quarterly Senior Vice President Excellence Award for outstanding performance and customer dedication. In his previous role with Microsoft, Victor made several trips to India to conduct technical training for Microsoft partners and also for Microsoft FTE’s in Bangalore. As a Microsoft-certified systems engineer, Victor has the ability to communicate technical issues to non-technical audiences and translate complexity into value for customers.

In his spare time, Victor enjoys motorcycle rides, theology and religious history, surfing, and digital photography. He resides on the beautiful Carolina coast, a landscape that inspires him daily.