Every Company Needs a Good Map

At a meeting of business professionals a question was asked, "Who has the worst job?" As people complained about this or that aspect of their position or environment a friend was sitting quietly next to me with a big smile on his face. As the discussion began to wind down he said, "I'm a dentist. Do you know what it's like to work 4 inches from bad breath all day long?" That concluded the discussion.

I had always thought that dentists gave more pain than they got (Little Shop of Horrors must have been my reference point). Their offices are usually clean and not very odor-filled. That however is deceiving it turns out. We often enter a workplace with the best of optimism. We see smiling faces and quiet chatter and assume that things must be going well there.

Like an improperly functioning business, bad breath (AKA Halitosis) has many causes...

·    Lack of proper brushing
·    What you eat (too obvious?)
·    Dry mouth
·    Smoking
·    Gastrointestinal infections
·    Bad tooth
·    Coated tongue

Visit the ADA - American Dental Association website for more detail (best to do this at home)

Tongue scraping significantly reduces bad breath that is caused by material that remains on the tongue. (You can also use your toothbrush but it is not quite as effective.) Mouthwash only masks most of these issues temporarily. After brushing, the next best thing is actually to use a tongue scraper to remove buildup on the back of the tongue. This is not easy for some and can, if done incorrectly, induce the gag-reflex. (If you are like Nicole Ritchie, this could kill two birds with one stone!)

There are several designs and versions of tongue scrapers. Which one you choose depends on your preference. A quick Google search turned up some very interesting models. You can also check out the extraordinarily brief Wikipedia article.  
There are antique versions -  from around 1800
Modern silver versions if you want to feel like royalty but at a reduced cost.  
Plastic wands and loops are also available - See picture above.
BoingBoing showed that there is even a "Swiss Army Dental Knife" that has one

(These are not meant to be specific product endorsements but examples only.)

So, what does this have to do with business? Simply put:
Often the cause of the trouble a business has is not up front, it is behind the scenes. It resides in the management, the operating procedures, or with the owner. Getting to that trouble has its own issues, but if you want to remove the problem, then you have to have the right tools to do it and you have to get all the way back there to get at it.

Anyone have additions to this analogy?

Does your business have halitosis? (Only your best friends will tell you.)