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When Everything Is Red, Don’t Yell
A short lesson about toddlers and business
While I was brewing my first cup of coffee this morning, I didn’t pay attention to my two-year-old daughter for two minutes.
She was playing somewhere behind me and when I turned around everything was red…
Her shirt was red.
Her shorts were red.
The floor was red.
Even the wall had a handful of red stains.
My daughter was sitting there cross-legged surrounded by smashed cherry tomatoes.
She had a huge smile on her face and one more tomato in her hand. The final one.
I had two options.
I could yell at her and tell her never to smash tomatoes again. She’d have a tantrum, and I’d be upset.
Or I could figure out why she was doing it.
“Are you having fun?” I asked.
“Yes”
“Ok, smash the final one and then we’ll clean it together, alright?”
And we did. We threw them all in a bowl and put them in the fridge.
Of course, I explained that she shouldn’t play with food, but we didn’t fight about it.
When things are all messy, yelling rarely helps.
Instead, you need to find the true reason for the mess. Understand it. Then solve it together.
If your messaging is in a bit of a mess right now, yelling at your customers won’t help either. Talk to them. Understand them. And fix their problems together.
I’m here if you need help.
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Photo by Dylann Hendricks | 딜란 on Unsplash
