Expectations

 

*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc./*

As I write this, it is Saturday morning – late Saturday morning I might
add.  Already I have knocked off three items from my weekend to-do list. 
That is a good thing I suppose.  However I am a bit miffed – or miffled as
Tony Soprano would say.  All week long my regional paper has been promising
me (and of course all of their subscribers) that we would absolutely love
their revamped weekend format that is being introduced today.  The problem
is they still have not delivered the freaking thing.  I cannot read and
enjoy my Saturday paper unless I have it.

Normally I would not be upset about my Saturday paper being late (actually I
probably would as I look forward to the fact that I can read through it
leisurely – note, it is not the content that is important, it is the fact
that I can do something – anything – at leisure).  What has raised my
ire is that for the last three weeks, the paper has been raising expectations
about how great the new format was going to be this weekend.  You simply
cannot raise expectations and not deliver. 

But what about your risk management function?  What expectations have you
created, or not created?  Are you delivering on those expectations?  Or are
you disappointing by failing to deliver?

Meanwhile, with the last sentence on this blog I can now cross off four
things on my to-do list.  Perhaps not having a weekend paper to start my
weekend off on a procrastinating note is a good thing.  (Apologies of course
to Martha.)