I was doing a bit of blog surfing tonight to catch up on a long list of blogs I enjoy reading and came across the following from a recent Seth Godin post:
"Firing the customers you can't possibly please gives you the bandwidth and resources to coddle the ones that truly deserve your attention and repay you with referrals, applause and loyalty."
Amen! This reminded me a a time early in my days as a self-employed consultant back in the mid-90's. I took on a client that turned out to be a royal pain-in-the-backside. They'd call me to complain about their fax not working (among other odd things) and even though the services I had contracted with them to provide had nothing to do with most of the things they called to rant about, they expected me to address and fix them all. I ended up giving them back the initial fee they'd paid and canceled the contract. I felt better immediately and the time I was spending dealing with them was quickly filled with several new (and much nicer and "normal") customers.
So, I can relate to this quote. I also think it just makes good sense across the board. Whatever you give your time and attention to (careers, relationships, etc) should yield positive (whatever positive means to you) results. If you find that you're always unhappy when dealing with certain aspects of life, then I think it's entirely reasonable to look for ways to eliminate/reduce whatever it is and replace it with something that brings more happiness and positiveness to you. It may seem difficult and a bit scary to do so, but I think in the long run it's the way to go.
On a different note, I spoke today at the MAOP (Mid Atlantic Association of Oracle Professionals) Conference held today in Reston VA. I really enjoyed being there and got some good feedback and questions after speaking. In my current work I don't get the opportunity to speak in front of folks like I used to when I taught classes at least a couple of weeks a month. So, I'm really grateful to MAOP for asking me to speak and for having the opportunity to get a "fix" from presenting to a great audience!
And speaking of conferences, the annual Hotsos Symposium is coming up March 7-11 in Dallas. This will be the first one I've missed since they started having them 8 years ago (bummer!). But, if you want to attend one of the best conferences anywhere, and the only one focused specifically on Oracle performance, there's still seats available. I highly recommend it!