Standards

Customized

Airlines do not have consistent rules for carrying-on bag size and weight restrictions (see the above photo for context). Passengers must do the research to determine if their carry-on bag qualifies for a specific airline. If the airline industry agreed on a universal standard, it would reduce passengers’ stress and align the baggage industry. A worldwide standard would allow for consistency at the scale of commercial airlines.

We need to decide where to offer customizations and where standardization is required. Customizations are frequently made for donors to social sector causes. Rules about naming, the timing of the gift, the way the contribution is credited, or a plethora of other details are up for discussion. How an organization’s annual report is filed with the Secretary of State contains minimal choices. Knowing what we are offering and its purpose might help us navigate our level of flexibility.

Your Standards

When you work on a project, what are your standards? Is starting sufficient to meet your expectations? How about creating a beta version? What if the deliverable meets the customer’s expectations but you decided not to complete upgrades that will maximize performance? Where do you stop?

When you operate an airline, is getting the passenger from departure airport to arrival airport sufficient? When does passenger engagement begin and where does it stop? What interactions meet an airline’s standards during the journey? What is the promise you make?

There is a remarkable difference between delivering for the customer’s standard and our own standard? It is important to know which one we have prioritized.