A few years back a national oil change chain had a marketing campaign that went something like this:  “We don’t want to change the world – we just want to change your oil”. At first look it seems catchy and innocuous and it probably was quite successful seeing as how I still remember it.  After a deeper look at the slogan it begins to strike me as somehow setting bar so low as to make their work seem insignificant. So is just changing someone’s oil (or fill in the blank with any other service oriented task) insignificant?

The reason I pause for reflection on this topic is that we recently lost a good customer. He didn’t move away or change places where to do business (that happens) but passed on from this age to the next. Over the years I have lost several customers in this manner and it nearly always causes me to think more deeply about what I do and more importantly how I do it.  Our business is small enough that we generally get to know most of our customers, their kids, their grandkids etc. We learn who’s off to college and when babies are due and …. when someone dies.  What I think about most at that time is how well did I and my staff serve that person. Did we do our jobs well always? Were we kind, courteous and treat them with great respect? Did we make their day easier or less burdensome by providing the service they needed? Did we fulfill promises we made and complete our tasks when we said we would? If the answer is yes then we have changed the world. It may seem like only a drop in the bucket but the bucket gets wetter with each drop.

Whether you are building a house, assisting a surgeon, waiting tables or sweeping floors in a halfway house, your work is significant if you have the attitude described above. We all search for meaning in life and at great risk of offending those who feel we are all just molecules that accidently formed together and then come apart at the end of life, we must set the bar higher. It is said that integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking.  I would posit that Someone always is. I would challenge you to try to have this attitude in your day especially if you feel you work doesn’t matter or no one notices. Expect to feel differently at the end of your day!