Number of words – 205

As part of a transformation exercise, a corporate team at Shell was given a video camera and 90 minutes to make a video. What the team came out was the story of a guy who had to go to the bathroom very badly. The old Shell video opens with the guy walking cross legged, in great pain, looking for the men’s toilet. He comes to the door marked ‘Men’ and it’s locked. He goes through a bureaucratic procedure to fill out the form required to open the door. The person who has the form has to get it approved by his supervisor. That person rings a bell, and the supervisor comes over and reviews the whole process. Meanwhile, the guy’s practically turning green – until he’s finally given the key. That’s the old Shell.

Then comes the new Shell. The same guy goes to the men’s room, but now there’s a doorman who greets him with a smile. As he goes into the stall, he is handed his own personal roll of toilet paper. The man comes out and is given his own towel. The service attendant even tries to zip the guy’s fly.

Excerpted from ‘1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work’ by Bob Nelson