Continuous improvement, or CI in shorthand, is a management approach that gained currency in the 1980s and 1990s.  With a CI culture, nobody in the organization ever thinks, "OK, now that we've achieved this year's cost targets, let's just run things steadily for a bit, no more changes."  A CI culture implies there's always a next idea or a next step, however small.  And it says that if you're not moving a little bit further forward in some way, there's a danger you'll start slipping back - if not in absolute terms, then relative to your competitors.  You have to be paranoid about complacency.  

And with a CI culture, nobody ever thinks, "OK, there's more to do, but I'll wait a few months and assemble a good, long, meaty to-do list, then I'll really go for it, I'll make a sprint for the tape."  A CI culture says do even a little bit today, don't wait for a major event, a big process - if you do, there's a risk it won't happen, it could become too monumental and hard to handle.

- Andrew Wileman, Driving Down Cost

Markita Andrews, at the young age of 13, learned her selling "rules of thumb" when she became a Girl Scouts cookie selling dynamo.  She sold more than $80,000 worth of cookies during her Girl Scouts career!  What motivated Markita to become the greatest "salesgirl"?  DESIRE.  Markita learned that the Scout who sold the most cookies would win an all-expense-paid trip for two around the world.  She desperately wanted to win this trip. 

 10 Ways to Reduce Stress at Work from BuzzFeedYellow on YouTube:

1. Take a deep breath
2. Eat a mango
3. Make a music mix
4. Cut into an orange
5. Go for a walk
6. Eat chocolate
7. Stretch
8. Drink tea
9. Look out a window
10. Meditate

At some point in your life I bet you have taken some form of a time management class.  Mine was the original Franklin Covey time management seminar, where you purchased the Covey planner of your choice and then learned how to effectively use it with the Covey system.  Over the course of several years, I think I owned and attempted to use each planner size they made in hopes of finding the perfect solution for my needs.  Obviously, something wasn't working, and I was searching for a workable answer. 

Unfairness feels like injustice, and when customers face injustice they are motivated to seek justice.  When customers believe they have been treated unfairly, they are first surprised, then disappointed.  This feeling converts to anger and indignation, emotions that can be held onto for a long time.  Anger wrought from unfairness leads to a desire to punish and is probably the emotional justification for customers who go out of their way to punish an organization.  Trust and fairness are intimately related.  The basis for trust is perceived fairness.  Without trust, a shaky foundation exists for service exchanges.

-Janelle Barlow and Dianna Maul, Emotional Value

Long gone are the days of using snail mail and placing catalog orders during business transactions.  Something that used to take days upon days to reach fruition now happens in literally moments.  With nearly a billion websites available at our fingertips and >100 social networking sites to join along with the use of email, smartphones, and tablets, we are always "connected" and can make decisions rapidly.  What does this mean from a customer service standpoint?  This means that customers are demanding, have lots of choices, and are in control.