My New Chair

Ordering a chair over the Internet didn’t seem like a particularly good idea; sort of like clothing, it’s probably best to try it in person. But I had seen a new desk chair for my home office and when the retailer didn’t have the color I wanted in stock, I thought I’d give it a try although it was being shipped from across the U.S., Northern California to New York City.

When the box arrived, it was huge, and I was surprised to see that it had it come intact from China where it was manufactured—the original labels from Shanghai to California were still visible under the U.S. shipping label and the sealing tape had Chinese characters. I noticed that one corner of the box was crushed so I was very apprehensive as I started to cut the cardboard carton away. As I pulled out the mounds of paper and other wrapped material, I could see that whoever had packed my chair clearly had a lot of experience putting them into boxes for shipment around the world. The wheels had been packed separately so as not to come loose. Each edge of the aluminum frame, anywhere it might possibly have become dented, was wrapped in heavy corrugated cardboard to avoid bruising.

All of the shiny surfaces were covered with a peel-off plastic so they wouldn’t get scratched. And the white mesh fabric was covered in bubble wrap to keep it neat through the various forms of transport that got it from the factory to my apartment. I tell this story frequently in our staff training sessions. What’s it got to do with JeffreyGroup? Well, when we strategize and develop programs for our clients, it’s about anticipating all the things that might go wrong and all the potential trouble spots lurking out there.

It means drawing on our experience and expertise, asking the right questions, and helping our clients prepare for them. It means being ready for bad weather, broken projectors, and microphones with failing batteries. So while it’s a bit more complicated than packing a chair for shipment. It’s still all about knowing how to be sure the outcome is what everyone hoped for—or better!