Stop Assuming, Start Clarifying
The
way we commute has changed dramatically with the advent of Ola and Uber Cabs.
Here is an account of my first time experience with this type of cab service
and the insightful experience that followed.
I was
in Chennai and I had to do some local travel. On having seen many newspaper ads
and having heard from friends about Ola cab services, I thought I would give it
a try. So, I downloaded the app from the Google Play store and installed it on
my mobile.
Using
this app, I made a request and within 3 to 5 minutes a cab arrived. As I was
new to Ola, I was not sure of how it works. I did not check my SMS too. I was
just amazed to see an Ola cab approaching me, within few minutes of sending a
request. I just got into the cab and said Adayar. The car started moving
towards the destination. After few minutes of travel, I got a bit curious to
know how this system works. So, I initiated a chat with the cab driver, asking
how Ola is doing and how is it they are able to reach the customer so quickly.
So he
started explaining the process and in the process he said, “just like you would
have received a SMS from Ola giving the driver name and car number”. It was
here, I got a bit puzzled. I told him, I did not receive any such SMS. He said,
that I should have received it. So immediately, I picked up my phone and
checked to find that it was there. So I just read out the message loud which
had the car number and driver name. The driver was shocked. He said that was
not his name and that was not his car number. It was then he figured out, that
he has made a wrong pick up and blamed me for not checking out his name, before
boarding the car. I from my point of argument said, “It is you who should have
verified the customer name, before I boarded the vehicle.” After all the finger
pointing, I asked him to proceed to my destination. He said that it was
possible, as the trip is monitored by the Ola team and he has to drop me back
at my pick up point and pick up the right customer.
I had
only two options. Either I get down right there and board a different vehicle
or go back to the point of pick up, where the right cab assigned to me, would
be waiting. I chose the latter and so he drove me back to my starting point
which was around 3 kms. He then dropped me back, where luckily the car assigned
to me was waiting.
It
was altogether a funny episode, but it also made me reflect on my flaw of
assuming, without seeking clarity. A saying goes, the word ASSUME itself means,
don’t make an ‘ASS’ of ‘U’ and ‘ME’. I realized I had just done that, by making
one such wrong assumption.
Many
times in life, we make some quick assumptions like this and end up in trouble.
No doubt we are too busy and we act in a hurried manner, but that should not
disturb us being sharp in our day to day activities. We need to pay attention
to details. We need to be more effective in communicating and make sure
that the other person has clearly understood what we have told them.
Does
it not happen, that many a times, we give some instructions to our subordinate,
colleague or family member, assuming that they have understood, but end up
seeing that they have totally misunderstood and done something totally
different. Later we blame them for doing it wrong. If we take the
little extra effort to clarify our communication, we can avoid ending up in
such a messy situation.
Let us stop assuming and start clarifying.
D. Senthil Kannan,
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