What Can I Do for You?

In an office environment, when someone greets you with “What can I do for you?” it likely means they have been reading books on productivity. This question-greeting is a way to manage conversation and the guest’s purpose in interrupting your work. (Personally, I find it off-putting.)

However, a service mindset is a beautiful thing.

When asked sincerely, “What can I do for you?” becomes a rare and precious opportunity. It’s asked so infrequently that it can trip up the person being asked. “Uhhhh, well….uh, I dunno!”

In my journal I am exploring how I might expound on the question, how I’d follow up should I catch someone off-guard.

You know, how can I help? What can I offer?

What skills, knowledge, time, etc. do I have that you might benefit from?

It’s a challenging thought experiment, especially for those of us who don’t readily think we have much to offer. It’s also a great prompt, recalibrated some, for a service mindset:

What Can I Do For Others?

I used to ask this of the 100’s of students I led in a volunteer program. There’s no reason to ever quit asking it. I am discovering in my journal that over time the list of what I might do—changes. I grow new skills and gain new knowledge. I learn I really can contribute this/that.

What am I learning…

So, I am a wordsmith, but I realize that is going the way of the blacksmith.

I used to be able to offer to brainstorm, compose, edit, critique…but with advances in artificial intelligence, my rusty-but-real intelligence is not such a hot commodity.

I can safely say that what I can offer that AI cannot is listening and companionship. Oh, there are bots that simulate listening and counseling (they are spooky-good at it, too) but at the end of the day, they don’t remember much. They won’t see you on the street in two weeks and ask, “So, how’s that sitch with the wife workin’ out?” An AI won’t go out of its way to make a wellness call or take you out for breakfast…at least not without you scheduling it to do so.

I still have things to offer, and I can continue to serve others. That’s what I’ve realized in my journal.

You, too, have a lot to offer!