From oatmeal to email, we live in an age of instant gratification. Breakfast comes in a bar or can. Work moves at the speed of light. People actually walk over to a coworker’s desk if they  don’t get feedback to their instant message fast enough. That’s twisted.

How have the timeframes of doing business changed at your company? Do you remember mailing special orders, or fax paper that came on a roll? Inventory that took days, training that took weeks? Technology was supposed to free us up, help us get more done in less time – but all it did was compress time and squeeze more work into our day.

Ms. Jones wants instant fulfillment, too. She can handle waiting a reasonable amount of time for her special order (although she gets to define “reasonable”), but she will not tolerate being put on hold. Websites that don’t work won’t get a second visit. She won’t resend an email that isn’t answered, but she will tell all about it on Craig’s List.

Does Ms. Jones seem more demanding these days? What makes her instantly angry?