M’s the Word: Regaining ‘pride in the job’

What I learned about efficiency and proficiency from a trip to Seoul



Landing 50 minutes late in Hong Kong, I have 20 minutes to find the gate for Cathay Pacific flight 420 to take me on to Seoul. A similar schedule in Europe or North America would probably be impossible, but in the Far East they accept a challenge.

As the doors of the plane opened, a petite Chinese lady bowed, barked into her phone, and led me at a run through the concourse, through staff screening, onto a train, and right to the gate in time to join the tail end of the queue heading onto the plane. She waved politely and disappeared, barking into her phone once more.

Seoul airport was deserted, and the progress fluid, with a limousine to waft me to the hotel. Against this backdrop of smooth professionalism, it was my duty to make sure I was prepared for my presentation to the congress. The efficiency and proficiency are driven by a desire not to lose face. So I wrote, re-wrote and practiced my short talk. It was not my face on trial, but the face of my company and the representative team in Korea.

Now Korea is a successful country. Its sophistication and affluence are to be seen in the immaculate cars, the shiny high-rise buildings as well as the eccentricity of the clothing styles of its people. And the permanent traffic jam outside the high-rise buildings, of course. So I wonder why the people have not succumbed to cynicism.

After a couple of days in Seoul, I boarded a flight to Osaka, where I was met with the same charm and patience, albeit an older version. No waiting limousine, instead a bus, with a gloved driver who managed to negotiate the traffic and arrive in downtown Osaka, exactly on time at 8:00 p.m.

I am reminded of the somewhat glib expression ‘pride in the job’, which I recall from my youth. Sometimes we consume so much idle chatter, we become so negative, that we lose pride. I see a parallel with the broken window strategy espoused by police chiefs in the US, whereby the local council repairs windows as soon as they are seen to be broken. Building or re-building society requires each of us to take pride in ourselves, in our work, and the environment.

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