People don’t expect perfection. They expect progress and communication.
A lesson from the London Underground
In the 1990s, the London Underground had a serious problem. Trains were constantly delayed. Commuters were furious. They tried fixing the delays, but real infrastructure change takes time.
So they did something surprisingly simple: they added signs.
"Next train in 7 minutes."
Same delays. But complaints dropped.
Why? Because people weren’t just mad about waiting. They were mad about not knowing how long they had to wait.
The business takeaway
This applies to almost every business scenario.
Whether it's:
- A hiring process
- A customer support ticket
- A delivery delay
You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to say:
Here’s where we are.
Here’s what’s next.
Here’s when to expect it.
Business lessons we learned from the London Underground.
