We all look for something; hopefully it is something to improve. This is where books such as The No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon, published by John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2008. The theory of the No Complaining Rule is not that you do not complain, but when you do, you need to bring 2 solutions to the table. The reason for the solutions is if you complain to about something, the other side will want to do something to improve but they may not know what would improve the problem. Sometimes the problem is relatively simple, but the solutions are complex. For example when the author visited Washington DC, part of the downtown was managed by the US Forestry Division; part of it was managed by Secret Service; part of it was managed by federal agencies and part of it was managed by Washington City Hall. Depending on the problem could mean the solution is more complex than it really needs to be. It is the same aspect in many companies, the complexity is easier to see with bureaucrats but toes might be stepped on and people often react when their toes are stepped on.

This leads to the next part of the No Complaining Rule, people must be empowered to make a solution or a partial solution. If the policy of the retail store is no refunds, what else can be offered? perhaps a gift card – the person wished to spend money in the retail establishment? How much is always the question – $10 or less than $ 25 with a good reason. The only problem is if supervisors never approve a good reason, than the unwritten policy is $10. Will that keep a customer or will they leave? In a No Complaining Rule changing complaints into solutions means understanding the cost of the customer and keeping them or letting them go. Once that is thought, better decisions can be made. If you are curious then there is opportunity to do something.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the No Complaining Rule tries to deal with positive ways to deal with negativity at work. It is understandable that negativity at work causes people to be unproductive and if they are unproductive they are a drain on resources and more important the people that work there. In theory there should be a relationship between good places to work which also have high morals and continuing profitability. Ideally that profitability translates into paying dividends and if you see your interactions with the company tend to highlight the positive they are worth putting on your radar of which dividend paying stocks to buy.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.