People seem to think building an extraordinary business is impossible. But consider: how hard is it to turn “ordinary” into something better?

The significant other and I were in a restaurant, a new location of a well-established local eatery. It’s not a terribly expensive place, but it’s not a sports bar, either.

Long story short: at the end of the meal, I grabbed the sevrer’s copy of the bill and wrote, “Excellent service, thanks Jennifer.”

The fella looked at me and said, “Are you trying to start something?”

He was wearing his smartass grin, but I wasn’t sure what he was driving at.

“What?”

“Are you trying to start a revolution?”

Now there is an excellent idea.

You’re probably wondering what stupendous feats Jennifer performed to spark the organized overthrow of mediocre restaurant service. You might be surprised at the answer.

She was relaxed, gracious, and engaged. She made eye contact when she spoke to us, and gave me a straight answer about what she heard from other customers when I was torn between two menu items. She didn’t bow, scrape, or fawn all over us, she wasn’t in a rush to get away from the table, and she didn’t call us “guys” or “yas” (which has been adopted as the plural form of “you” in some restaurants). She made us both feel at ease, like welcome guests instead of the pair at table four.

That’s it. That’s all it took to get a written compliment on the bill. And it’s sad to realize how rarely it happens.

Maybe we should be dining at higher-end eateries, but that isn’t the point.

Something happens when you go out of your way to compliment someone on doing something well. Not to them, to you. Something shifts in your head. You start to think about where you set the bar for the people you do business with. You become less willing to compromise on quality. You notice the people who step away from the herd.

You find yourself less willing to let your own work slide.

Small details can make or break a customer experience. It’s the same with revolutions, even small ones: they begin with an idea, and spread, one mind at a time.

Over to you: how do you define “extraordinary?” How would you start a revolution in your own thinking or your own work? When was the last time you gave someone a heartfelt compliment on a job well done?