In pursuit of perfect days during imperfect times

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”

Not many would suggest that the last month or so consisted of “perfect days.” And yet, as I reflect on the selfless sacrifices of medical caregivers, the continuous efforts of those who provide essential goods and services, and the simple gestures of kind folks who just want to help — well, I guess Coach Wooden would say we’ve recently seen some incredibly perfect days.

Undoubtedly, it’s a universal sentiment that we want COVID-19 cured and eradicated. We want the “new normal” to return to a semblance of the “old normal.” We should, of course, temper our impatience for these outcomes with gratitude for those who are working tirelessly for the development of vaccines and effective treatments to conquer the virus. We have the assurance they will not stop until successful.

In the meantime — however long that is — most of us have two extraordinary gifts to savor, if we choose to.

The first of these is the gift of additional time. While we would prefer to use our time in customary pursuits, social distancing has forced many of us to stay at home. There’s certainly room for enjoying time with family and making the most of our Netflix subscriptions, but if we’re not careful, we will ignore the second great gift: the gift of agency, the right to choose what we will do.

In normal times, much of our agency is essentially pre-programmed. We get up at the same time each morning, go through the same pre-work routines, head out to work where the use of our time is highly defined, return home, then rest and repeat.

With the unexpected gift of time in the new normal, many of us have the rare opportunity to use our gift of agency. We can consider new possibilities in our work — and in our lives.

We might consider how we can more fully serve others, both in the current situation and in the future. Now is a great time to review how well we provide real value not just to our families and neighbors but to our customers. How might we improve our actions, behaviors, products and services to create more value — and more perfect days?

Your answer might be as impactful as a cure for the coronavirus, or it might be as simple as writing a sincere thank-you note to a valued employee. Can you aid your customers who have run into financial trouble due to no fault of their own, or is there a way your company can help buoy up the community in these economic uncertain times? It really doesn’t matter whether your answer is what author Jim Collins has called a BHAG (big hairy ambitious goal) or a simple act of kindness. In fact, often the value of such simple acts has the greatest impact on those who are grinding through the struggles of life.

One company that has been the epitome of simple acts that have grown into an amazing BHAG is Sea-Long Medical Systems of the small town of Waxahacie, Texas. Prior to the pandemic, this mom-and-pop business fielded a few dozen orders a week for their “helmet- style” ventilation devices. Owner Chris Austin, along with five employees and a few volunteers from his church, manufactured the device pretty much out of his garage.

The Sea-Long product had fortunately been thoroughly evaluated prior to COVID-19, having proven to render superior outcomes to many other alternatives. So when the coronavirus hit, Austin realized that the worldwide demand for ventilators was his call to action.

Demand for Sea-Long devices soared, which one might assume substantially drove up the company’s prices. Not so! Chris Austin has maintained his price at $162 per unit, insisting that he doesn’t want to limit access to these life-saving devices.

The company now employs 10, and volunteers have steadily shown up to help push production levels higher. Many good folks are helping create perfect days in the midst of trying times.

Most of us will not be as well-positioned to benefit our fellowman as Chris Austin. But we can use our own gifts of time and agency to enhance what we in business call our “value proposition” to those we serve.  Now is a great time to do so.

Let’s each create many more perfect days.

Richard Tyson is the founder, principal owner and president of CEObuilder, which provides forums for consulting and coaching to executives in small businesses.