Below is an Autogenerated Transcript

So, you know that I have a reputation as a service expert, a guru, an author, etc. And some of you may be thinking, “Yeah, but service, that’s the soft stuff. You know, that’s the human interaction side. I’m focused on the real project side.” Well, let’s take a look at that.

Service is a word that’s used as customer service, internal service, counter service, roadside service, web service. If somebody is in the government, it’s called the civil service. Foreign service. If you go in the military, it’s called being in the service. If you go to church, it’s a service. When you die, you’ll get a memorial. I mean service is all around us. Right?

So we should at least have a good definition like we probably do for, you know, what is a standard, right? Or, you know, what is a KPI? Or what is a project? Probably have a pretty good definition about that. What does control mean? What is planning mean? What does monitoring mean? What is evaluation? Right. You have a good definition. So what’s your definition for service?

I’m going to ask you to turn to your partner. You’re going to go like this at the same time, “Service is…” And you say exactly the words you use to define that word. Ready? You and your partner. On your mark, get set, exactly the words. Go talk to your partner. Come on back, come on back. How many of you found that you and your partner turned to each other, and you said exactly the same words? How many of you meant sort of the same thing? Yeah, you meant the same thing, but you use different words, right?

Guess what? That’s a problem. When you’re trying to build a strong, unified, aligned culture that gives a competitive advantage to an organization, it’s a problem if people can’t define fundamental words in the same way. Think about that in terms of project management. What if everybody had their own definitions for some of your key principles. It would be a problem.

So I’m going to propose a definition for us to use in this room. If you like it, keep it. Would you agree with me that service requires that someone do something for someone else? Yes or no? Yes. Service does not sit up there in a box, right? Service is taking some form of action.

Now, what’s the purpose of the action? To solve a problem, meet a need, answer a question. Resolve a situation. Right. To do something that someone else will prefer, appreciate, need, want, desire, something that they will v-v-v-v-value. So say this together with me. Service. Here we go. Service is taking action to create some value for for someone else. Unless it is self-service, in which case you take action to create value for yourself.

Now let me pause. I want you to talk to your partner again for a second and see. Does this definition work? Given your job, your role, your position, and the actions that you take. Is that action intended to create value for someone else? Please turn to your partner. Go. Very good, very good. Come on back. Come on back. Does the definition work for your position? Yes or no? Yes. How old do you think someone needs to be to be taught this? Right? Not that old.