I’ve been thinking lately about the sub-prime mortgage crisis. This seems to be a great time for some innovative thinking.

If people were able to pay for the original mortgage, then they weren’t able to pay when the rate went up, then it seems plausible that they only have to find the difference. I know this is oversimplifying the problem, but it’s true for many people.

My idea is this. Ask yourself: “What else can my house be used for besides living?”

The question may seem absurd at first, but give it a chance. Think about it. It won’t be easy to come up with a solution, but it may just be possible.

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In a crisis, there are a few types of people:

Damsels in distress - Those people most affected by the crisis at hand.

Average Citizens - Those who see the problem coming and seek personal safety and shelter.

Villains - Those who see the problem and try to take advantage of it for personal gain.

Superheroes - Those who seek out serious problems and help those in distress.

Many people are talking about a coming crisis… stock market, housing, economy - Which one of the above will you be?

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I recently stayed with a friend overnight in a hospital (nothing serious, thanks for asking). Usually, this experience is awful. I think all of us can tell stories of trying to sleep in tiny room, in a hard plastic chair, with nurses coming in and turning the lights on every thirty minutes. Not here. This hospital felt like a hotel. The rooms were large. They had big TV’s with On Demand movies. They had a mini-fridge. They had a big sofa that pulled out into a bed. Really. At night, the nurses made their rounds quietly, working by the soft night-light that stayed on above the bed. The lobby was hotel-like, decorated in modern furniture, tasteful art, and live foliage. It was almost a pleasant experience.

You may have noticed strange new dentists’ offices popping up, advertising spa-like environments. Look at this copy from spadent.com:

SPADENT Dental and Day Spa

Imagine a place… where your life could be enriched, your health enhanced, your body and soul encouraged to embark on a peaceful transformation…

Upon entering the doorway, you will hear whisperings of cascading waters. A timeless elegance and a tranquil décor will unfold before your eyes. Fresh baked cookies will be your pleasant reminder that you are in a different, uniquely special place. A concierge will greet you and offer you a cheerful, friendly welcome. She is our ambassador. And, we want to serve your spa, dental and salon needs with grace, elegance and with your best interests always our first and highest priority. You are a valued and treasured guest. Welcome to SPADENT! It is our honor and privilege to serve you.

That’s a dentist?!

Well, why not? Why is it that when we think of hospital stays and dental appointments, we think of miserable experiences? Is there some law that says it must be this way? Of course not, that’s just the way it is.

Until it wasn’t. One day, someone decided they didn’t have to model their office after every other dentist out there. They modeled their business after industries that people actually liked.

It’s a great exercise for your company. Instead of modeling your business after others in your industry, model it after another one altogether. Here’s how: Instead of thinking about how you do business with your customers, think about how your customers do business with you. Put yourself in their shoes and walk through the customer experience, start to finish. Think about how the experience is similar to other customer experiences. For the dentist, it looks something like this:

The customer walks in and checks-in with a receptionist. They sit and wait in a lobby. Then they are moved to a back room where they are seated in a chair. The technician does some initial work. The dentist comes in and does some touch-up. The customer is escorted to a counter, where they pay and book their follow-up appointment.

What are some industries that people actually love that take similar steps? (After some brain squeezing, you come up with the answer.) Of course, a masseuse!

You can do this exercise with your business. I bet you’ll come up with some great, game-changing results.

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Disclaimer: This is not a political site, and in no way am I trying to express any particular opinion about politics or the war.

When the towers were hit, I don’t remember a single person opposed to war. Folks were walking around with pictures of Bin Laden with a target on his forehead.

Here we are a few years later, and most people want out. You hear a lot of people talking about how Bush lied to get us into Iraq, and how it’s a waste of lives and money and resources.

How did we go from a country enthusiastic about war, to one strongly opposed to it in such a short time?

I don’t care to weigh in on whether the war is right or wrong, or whether we should stay or not. What I see from a business standpoint is a very good illustration of the culture change we are experiencing.

Years ago, we went to war on talk. We listen to rousing speeches by gifted orators and were stirred to fight. No more. We live in a time of information. We live in a time where rousing speeches can be proven to be based on shaky information in a matter of hours. The facts can be spread in minutes. The Bush Administration did not acknowledge this. They did war the old way. By talking. The new way of war (if any at all) should be by spreading information that shows the people that it is necessary. If there was a website where the government would give the public constantly updated information on reasons to proceed, the plans for proceeding, the intended goal, and the exit strategy, people may be more likely to allow it. The complaint now is not so much that the war is wrong, but that we just aren’t seeing the info we want to be able to even make an informed decision.

What does this have to do with business? Everything. People are not sold things anymore. You can tell me that your product is the best in the world, but I’m going to check it out on a dozen websites with user reviews and side-by-side comparisons. I’m going to see for myself.

What this means is that your business needs to rely on supplying your customers with good information, instead of good sales pitches. President Bush tried to lead a war with a sales pitch, and the people weren’t buying. Don’t make the same mistake in your company.

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You have to look closely, but there’s something different about this door. It has no doorknob. It has a lock. It has a key that sits on top of the door jam. It just doesn’t have a doorknob. You just unlock it with the key and pull the door open.

The fact is, it doesn’t need a doorknob. It’s a closet in a church. It only gets opened a few times a year. It holds items that are valuable to the church but nothing anyone would want to steal.

Most of the time, the person who put it in would add a regular door with doorknob and lock. The person who installed this one, however, was thinking. I imagine him/her realizing what it would be used for, seeing that it didn’t need anything but a lock and key, and saving the church the two-holed door and doorknob.

My point is, many times we do things because “that’s how you do it.” Look at the things you take for granted and see if you are doing things that are unnecessary. You could save time and money.

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