The Bar Is So Low

“ENSHITTIFICATION (noun) - Colloquial, the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, typically as a consequence of profit-seeking.”

Macquarie Dictionary, 2024

As time goes by, our minds can play funny tricks on us.

Nostalgia is real, and we tend to remember the past as we wish to (often through rose tinted spectacles), rather than how it actually was.

But it seems to me like we are increasingly living in a time where the required standard is to do the bare minimum.

Maybe it is just because I’m becoming old and grumpy, but not a day seems to pass recently where, as a consumer, I feel like I represent an inconvenience rather than an opportunity.

Phone’s ringing out, lack of responsiveness, deadlines slipping without communication, hidden charges. And in some cases just an outright inability to deliver the service paid for.

The majority of us work in some kind of service profession. We have customers who we serve, in return for financial compensation of some kind. This exchange of value is what makes the modern world go round.

Even if we do not spend our days dealing with the general public, our day job will naturally involve the management of stakeholders of some kind. Bosses, our team, shareholders etc. etc. So getting, and keeping, people onside is a natural part of day to day life. It is a skill to be managed and nurtured like any other.

I’m aware that the art of “getting people onside” can sound a bit like manipulation, but in my experience all that is required to keep a stakeholder happy is to do the basics well.

Deliver what has been agreed, on time and be open and available to any queries. And do it consistently.

You don’t need to know everything, no-one does. “I don’t know” are three very powerful words, but the willing to go away and land upon a logical, well informed answer represents the bare minimum.

Most consumers are perfectly reasonable. There will always be some headcases, the kind who leave one star Google Reviews when the restaurant kitchen won’t make something especially for them - but that is life, you can’t please everyone. And nor should you want to.

But we should all endeavour to do our best. Yes we owe it to the customer, but we do our best primarily because we owe it to ourselves.

We have had a young man in on work experience this week. Good lad - turns up on time, listens, asks some questions and tries his best. That’s 90% of the job right there.

There has been plenty of ink spilt about how the AI revolution means that graduates are going to have it really difficult. Why hire a junior to, initially, undertake menial tasks when you can pay Claude a few quid a month to do it instead?

And of course there are lots of headwinds for young people. But I’m actually going to take the other side.

From what I have seen, AI has made the average person lazier. A bull market in mediocrity.

When everyone sounds the same, we all sound the same. How dull.

I’m sure some of you think I am daft in spending an hour or two writing these posts every week. Why spend this time and effort writing a blog every week when AI can churn one out in thirty seconds?

Well, because 90% of people will do the latter, and therefore there is a big opportunity for the rest of us to stick our heads out above the AI sludge. And also, y’know, because it’s a laugh.

In case you think I'm telling porkies...

The same applies across the working world. When most answers can be pulled instantly from a screen, the joy of the craft gets lost a wee bit.

And as everything becomes easier, doing difficult things becomes harder. So we don’t do it. The bar slips ever lower.

For the young and motivated person I think it is actually a great time to be coming into the working world for a couple reasons.

First off, if all of the boring, menial tasks become commoditised and dealt with by technology, you can get stuck into the more interesting stuff from day one.

Second, as a young person your energy and enthusiasm are your superpower. It is infectious, and these attributes will catch the attention of exactly the sort of person you want to notice.

If standards are going to continue to slip, you don’t even need to go the extra mile anymore - the extra yard will do.

In a world that is increasingly beige, it is always easier to notice a splash of colour.