Finding the Pony on the Other End of the Line

There is a moment that happens in many organisations—quietly, repeatedly, and often unnoticed.

A phone rings.

Or a queue advances.

Or a call connects.

And on one end of that line is a person navigating a system.

On the other end is a person representing it.

We tend to think of only one side of that equation as “the system.”

But that is not quite true.

The Story

Recently, during what can only be described as peak tax season, I spoke with a Canada Revenue Agency call centre agent named Ramona.

Calm. Patient. Kind.

Nothing remarkable in isolation—until something shifted.

Her system crashed.

Not a delay. Not a pause in tone. Not a reset of energy.

She continued—almost seamlessly—from memory.

Holding the thread of the conversation. Maintaining momentum. Ensuring I was not left behind in the gap that technology created.

It would have been entirely reasonable for her to stop.

To reset.

To ask me to call back.

To fall back on the structure of the system.

She didn’t.

And this wasn’t the first time.

Months earlier, while establishing my own businesses, I had two similar experiences with CRA agents. Each took the time. Each stayed present. Each moved beyond the minimum required.

Which raises a question.

What Are We Actually Interacting With?

We often describe organisations like the CRA as rigid.

Policy-driven.
Rule-bound.
Structured for control.

And they are.

They have to be.

At the scale they operate—hundreds of thousands of interactions, layers of complexity, accountability requirements—structure is not optional.

It is essential.

But what we miss is this:

Structure does not eliminate humanity.

It contains it.

And within that containment, something interesting happens.

There is space.

Not infinite space—but enough.

Enough for judgment.
Enough for care.
Enough for discretion.

Enough to guide.

From Rules to Guiderails—In Practice

In earlier writing, I’ve explored the idea of moving from rigid rules to guiderails—structures that guide behaviour rather than constrain it.

At first glance, a call centre environment may seem like the least likely place for this to exist.

Scripts.
Queues.
Escalation paths.
Time pressures.

And yet, in practice, that is exactly where I have seen it emerge.

Not because the system was redesigned.

But because the human within it chose to engage differently.

What I experienced was not simply rule execution.

It was guidance.

Not just answering the question asked—
but anticipating the one that comes next.

Not just resolving the issue at hand—
but helping avoid the next one entirely.

That is not written in policy.

That is human judgment operating within structure.

That is a guiderail in motion.

The Hidden Variable: The Caller

There is, however, another part of this system that is rarely acknowledged.

The caller.

We tend to think of call centre performance as something delivered to us.

A service we receive.

An outcome we evaluate.

But in reality, we are participants in the system.

And how we show up matters.

More than we might like to admit.

A Simple Pattern

Over time, I’ve noticed something consistent.

When the interaction begins with frustration, urgency, or confrontation:

The system tightens.

Responses become precise.
Boundaries become clear.
The path becomes narrower.

Not out of malice.

But necessity.

The agent retreats into the safety of the rules.

Now consider a different entry point.

Patience.
Respect.
A willingness to listen.
Perhaps even a poorly timed dad joke.

Something shifts.

The agent softens.

Not unprofessionally—but humanly.

And in that shift, the interaction expands.

More context is offered.
More possibilities are explored.
More guidance is given.

The system, while unchanged, behaves differently.

Finding the Pony

There is an old idea I’ve written about before:

Somewhere in every pile, there is a pony.

Call centres, particularly during peak periods, may feel like the opposite of that idea.

Volume.
Pressure.
Repetition.
And, at times, difficult human behaviour.

A pile.

But within that pile are moments.

Conversations that are not adversarial—but collaborative.

Interactions that are not transactional—but human.

People who are not trying to “work the system”—
but to understand it.

For those on the other end of the line, these moments matter.

They are the pony.

The unexpected signal that the work is not just about processing volume—but about helping people.

And for those of us calling in:

We have the ability to create those moments.

The System Insight

This is where the connection becomes important.

In When Control Replaces Clarity, I explored how systems tend to tighten in response to perceived risk—layering rules, reducing discretion, and slowly replacing judgment with procedure.

Call centres are, in many ways, the front line of that dynamic.

They are where the system meets reality.

Where policy meets lived experience.

Where complexity becomes personal.

And yet—even here—judgment persists.

Not because the system demands it.

But because people bring it.

A Different Way to Engage

If we accept that:

• systems are structured for scale

• humans operate within them

• and behaviour shapes interaction

Then something simple—and powerful—follows:

We can influence system performance not only through redesign…

…but through presence.

By:

Taking a breath before the call begins.

Listening fully, not just waiting to respond.

Treating the person on the other end as exactly that—a person.

Allowing space for the interaction to become collaborative rather than adversarial.

This does not guarantee an outcome.

But it changes the conditions.

And conditions matter.

For Those on the Other End of the Line

If you are the one answering the call—

moving from one interaction to the next, often without pause—

it is easy to see only the volume.

The repetition.
The pressure.
The accumulation.

But sometimes, in the middle of that, there is something else.

A conversation that flows.

A person who listens.

A moment that feels… different.

That is not incidental.

That is impact.

That is the reminder that what you do is not just process—

it is guidance.

And somewhere in the pile, that moment is the pony.

Closing

We often look to systems to improve performance.

Better processes.
Clearer policies.
More efficient design.

All of which matter.

But sometimes, the smallest shift is not structural.

It is human.

And in that shift—

something opens.