Do we make the right decisions about how we run our companies

I recently read a story that led me to ponder the varying ways that we look at companies and the services they provide.  The particular story I read was about a Southwest Airlines flight that allowed one of their planes to return to the jetway after initiating its departure to let a woman off the plane who had just been notified that her son had been in a major accident. Southwest pilots returned to the gate where the woman was led to a private room and then even redirected onto a different flight to where her injured son was in the hospital.

The social media praises came pouring in.  And as I read these praises, I could not help but remember a previous story about Southwest.  In this story there was a different flight that was in the news for NOT letting a woman off a plane when she had been notified by her husband, before take-off, that her son had just called his father saying that he was contemplating suicide. This mother later found out that her son did in fact commit suicide.

These are obviously abbreviated stories and one is very uplifting and the other is very sad.  As I look at this from the perspective of a business owner rather than a father or a business traveller, it illustrates what I have always felt and that is that businesses aren't their policies and procedures, but rather their people.  The biggest difference in these two stories are the people that reacted.

In speaking with a close friend the other night, I was wondering if we, as business owners, make the right decisions about how we run our companies and what we feel is important to our clients. My business partners and I have always wanted Hedgehog Hosting to be that company that is not just our policies and our procedures, which are very important, but more importantly is "US".

In an industry where it is common to focus more resources on the systems rather than the people that maintain and operate those systems,  Hedgehog strives to be that company.  No matter who you work for or what your company's policies and procedures are, there's always a human response that sometimes makes more sense.

I will always be thankful for the people who make the right decisions and strive to make their companies better for it.