business & professional

The Comfort Zone

H

ow could I be so mind-
less? I'm sitting at
Panera Bread, about
to toss my Greek salad with the
dressing — a Saturday afternoon
ritual of mine. I go to delicately
pour in the dressing from the
plastic container — and it's not
there! The salad has the dressing
on it. I say to myself,
"Shucks" (not really).
I realize the error
was mine. I forgot
to order it with the
dressing on the side.
With fork in hand, I'm
thinking should I just
return it and say, "I'm
sorry. I forgot to tell
you dressing on the
side. It's my error, but
I really don't like it
with this much dress-
ing?'
I pause, knowing that Panera
has an absolute policy to make
you happy. I look at the salad. I
tell myself I don't see that much
dressing and make the fatal
error — the fork plunges into
the salad and I consume the first
forkful. "Oh crud, it's drenched.
This stinks?'
Now, however, I feel stuck. If
I didn't want the salad, I should
not have had the first forkful
— so I continue to eat and not
enjoy the entire salad, wishing I
had just returned it.
I didn't return the salad
because I was hesitant to step
out of my weekend comfort
zone. When at work, I'm in
attorney mode — aggressive
when necessary and Type A day
in and day out. When outside,
however, it's time to relax and be
more amiable.
So, did I make the right move?
Would you have returned the
salad? Would you have just
said, "I'm sorry, I goofed and
ordered wrong?" Or, would you
have knowingly lied and said, "I
ordered the salad with dressing
on the side, and they messed up?"
I would never resort to the lie.
In fact, a couple of months back,
the exact same event occurred
(no, I'm not losing it!) and I
immediately returned the salad
at the pickup counter. I believe
the key is to make the decision
quickly. You can't let doubt sneak
in and interfere with the process.

After all, what is the chance that
they would say, "I'm sorry, sir,
but you did not order it with
dressing on the side, therefore
we will not allow you to return
it."
This same type of event can
occur in other circumstances —
personal and business. The fit
on the dress or suit
is not quite right, but
you don't return it (an
awful mistake). You
accept artwork that
doesn't quite "hit it,"
but you feel as though
you have exhausted
the artist.
In these scenarios,
we are resisting one-
on-one conflict by
accepting less than
what we want. In some
situations, the error is on our
end; in others, it's on the other
side. Either way, if the issue is
important enough, it's a mistake
to settle for what you don't want.
If you are at fault and there
is a surcharge to get it right, I
think the better call is to pay the
surcharge than to settle and be
unhappy.
The comfort zone issue arises
in different ways as well. In
financial issues, one of my favor-
ite strategies to eliminate credit
card debt requires the client to
stop making payments on the
card. We then settle it at a major
discount in a few months.
Because we are engrained by
the notion that you can never
be late on a payment to a bank,
some clients struggle with the
concept of not paying. To suc-
ceed, they must overcome their
comfort zone and pursue the
smarter course.
The lesson is that we must
identify the smart strategy to
accomplish our objectives, and if
our comfort zone interferes with
it — we overcome it.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but I
forgot to tell you dressing on the
side. I hate too much dressing. If
it's not a problem, can you please
remake it?" ❑

Ken Gross is an attorney with Thav

Rooftop solar panels on the 1-800-LAW-
FIRM building in Southfield

Energy-
Saving
Efforts

1-800-LAW-FIRM
unveils clean energy
improvements.

0

n Dec. 3, 1-800-LAW-FIRM
unveiled nearly $1 million in
clean energy improvements it
made to its Southfield property, includ-
ing state-of-the-art wind turbines,
rooftop and carport solar panels, high-
efficiency lighting and electric vehicle
charging stations.
Ari Kresch, CEO and founder of
1-800-LAW-FIRM, says he is improving
the environment while also saving his
company money.
"I want this project to serve as a show-
case for the benefits of green energy for
business, but also for it to teach home-
owners in Michigan and around the
country that they can do similar things
to their homes and businesses and that
it is possible to both save money and do
something positive for our planet."

❑

-800-LAW-FIR

AMERICA'S LAW FIRM

CEO Ari Kresch unveils energy improvements
at his building.

Gross and host of Law and Reality

that airs weekly at 8:30 Saturday

mornings on WDFN 1130 AM "The

Fan" and 11 a.m. Sundays on TV20.

JN

December 11 • 2014

45