Unlikely Innovation

I spent the latter part of last week and the weekend in Austin, Texas. To get there, I flew through Atlanta. Having an hour or so to wait for my flight, I decided to grab some breakfast. I gravitated toward Pascals (a southern tradition) because of an enthusiastic looking line. Weird, because I normally avoid lines. But they seems to be cooking up some very serious breakfast. So I get in line, and within seconds, a gentleman who had just been wiping down a table comes running up to me asks, "Table for one?" Now remember, I'm standing in the food court of the Atlanta airport. I didn't realize there was table service... "Yes, please," I said. Enthusiastically this guy says, "I gotchya covered, I gotchya, I gotchya, I'll take care of ya." Almost strange. Not 30 seconds later another man who was previously wiping tables comes and offers to take my bag to my table. What in the world is going on here?? It's a food court. I started thinking that maybe these guys worked for Pascals, but I realized they worked for the airport food services. Now I have a strong suspicion that the airport isn't paying people to offer table valet service. I ended up being escorted to my table, napkin and condiments brought over. And it wasn't just me, they were doing this for everyone. I watched in fascination and came to the conclusion that this small band of janitors and bussers had taken it upon themselves to do more. To offer more value. UNBELIEVABLE!! Frankly, I got better service in that food court than I get in many restaurants. And you know what? It was 7 am, and every one of them had a pocket filled with bills from tips. Now, I'm not sure if they're supposed to being doing this. In fact, I'd bet against it. But I was truly impressed by their gusto and willingness to enhance the value of their efforts and earn more in the process. Good for them. The message for the rest of us is clear: want more? Deliver more. So what unlikely things can you do to enhance the value of what you do?

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