How do you keep score?

[Guy, Karen, and Tor Nichols]

Lists,
	I'll preface this post by saying that if you don't have the time now,
flush it. I'm kickin' back until after school lets out so we can do a
bazillion "solo&ensemble" pianos.

	I'll rationalize(rational lies) this post by suggesting that a lot of the
recent posts on both ptg lists have gone beyond being purely "technical" or
"issues" related, but still have the appearance of posing a question. Mind
you, that may be a little stretch, but my two living brain cells thrive on
"diabo-logic".

	In observing the lists' posts, I've been amused, appalled, educated, and
entertained. When boredom or impatience loom, I press "trash".

	The "question" I see being posed by the "non-conformist" posts is the
subject of this post. The people that are participating seem to be
searching for a way to keep score. Please understand that if anything I
post offends anyone, it is not my intention, and I'm just not making myself
clear. By "score" I don't mean in the strictest competitive sense, by any
means. I'm referring to what we all do, with ourselves.

	Just how do we keep score? Technically, it should be simple to know what
the score is with our customers. We provide a service, unique in many
aspects, that involves us with a part of our customers' lives that is
deeply personal. Music, to most people, is much more that dots on a page.
As technicians, we perform tasks that allow our customers to enhance a
"feedback loop" between them and their instrument. Research shows that it
is this feedback that makes playing the piano such an enjoyable and highly
productive exercise. Our brains and bodies benefit in incredible ways when
we play on an instrument that can respond to our thoughts. Helping a
customer achieve the best interactivity levels is our "job". Our scorecards
are full when we help enough people. This is true in many areas outside of
piano work, also. Fair?

	Keeping score in the non-technical areas is not easy, but it is still
simple. For an "issue" to become an "aggravation", or vice versa, involves
an interpretation of actions or words that suggests a disparity with our
own established values. That's really quite simple. Note:"interpretation".
When one person questions an others' statements or actions, he or she is
asking "What's the score?" When the action or statement is just criticized,
it's more like "Here's the score, as I see it!"

	The thing about score-keeping is that the actual tally is only important
to ourselves. We can rest assured that no matter what, what someone else
thinks doesn't really matter, and that if we do the "right thing", our
scorecard will be full. We need to, must, have to, really truly , do the
right thing with our customers. Technically, there isn't a choice. There is
always a "right" thing to do, and "good enough" never is. With issues both
technical and political, the largest single influence on the real score is
how well we've helped other people. We can realize rewards beyond measure,
by helping enough others realize theirs. A piano that plays well and an
organization that runs itself smoothly are both results of people helping
people.

	I understand that this post is long, and sincerely hope that no one's time
was wasted. If just one person on either list can benefit from it, then our
time was invested, not spent. That scores well for me, how about you?
How do YOU keep score?

				Regards,
					Guy Nichols, RPT