Too MANY COMPANIES ARE schizophrenic. How many times have you seen this in your company? The manager kicks off a new direction by declaring, "Our customers are number one!"

In response to the manager's declaration, the company starts an internal and external marketing campaign to bring visibility and passion to the theme.

Everyone is immersed in focusing on the customer. While this is the right thing to do, it's the typical second part of the situation that baffles me.

When employees of this new "customer centered" company attend meetings, they treat each other no differently. This happened to a friend of mine.

In a meeting she attended after a so-called shift in focus to the customer, participants constantly looked at their computers or around the room, did their emails, among other impolite actions (The VP actually took two calls on his cell in five minutes!).

She felt like she was the distraction. The fact that she was treated so inconsequently troubled her for days.

That's when she began to notice other behaviors that did not fit their mantra.

People came to meetings late and never even apologized

Vendors, partners, and employees were disregarded. During one half-hour presentation, cell phones and PDA rang at least 15 times with everyone one being answered.