If you were raised by Grace Wallace Young, the only answer is a resounding NO. I grew up in an environment where respect for your elders, saying please and thank you, writing thank you notes, and making sure that anyone that you worked with, worked for, or that worked for you or that you faced across a desk or a cash register knew that you appreciated their efforts or patronage.
I have worked with soldiers, officers, team members, managers and project managers who know that appreciating the efforts of others makes any difference to their ability to deliver to expectations. It is the small things that matter.
If you think about the people who pass through your life everyday, how many times have you missed an opportunity to thank people for the small improvements that they have made in your life. A thank you for offering to bring coffee, a thank you for the cookie left on your desk, thanking a friend who stuck with you through thick and thin, or thanking a the team member that goes the extra mile. On a personal note, a thanks for the small things that your partner does for you and that you sometimes have to strain to remember because they seem rather mundane. Somehow, taking the garbage to the dump regularly doesn’t seem to need a thank you.
The golden nugget is “the words ‘thank you’ are two of the least used words in the english language. To quote Grace, you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. She probably quotes that from childhood but it is so true.” Say thank you for the small things and the big things will look after themselves.
