"Instead of bringing back 1600 plants, we might return from our journeys with a collection of small unfêted but life-enhancing thoughts." Alain de Botton Travel always reveals… something. A recent trip reminded me of the importance of getting the essential things right. No matter what your business does. There is one thing that is...
Hands up if you have a ‘to-do’ list. I suspect nearly everyone does. Now hands up if you have a ‘done’ list. Fewer if any, hands in the air. Me among you. I stumbled upon the idea last week from Oliver Burkeman, a favourite thinker about how to use our...
When a brand’s store of value overflows, there’s usually an undercurrent of I care about what you care about going on between me and you. It shows up in both the promises made and agreed upon.Within those same promises is a contract called ‘what we owe each other’. In his...
Experience without expectations is unthinkable — literally. What I believe will happen plays a prominent part in how I feel about what does happen.Even when it’s part of a subconscious story I didn’t know I was telling myself.So, why should organisations even try to shape people’s experience?Because even a modicum...
These days, it feels like every damn thing I do is called a journeyI’m not buying a drill. I’m on a home improvement journey.I don’t need to make a different choice. I’m on a change journey.I’m not visiting my doctor. I’m on a wellness journey.I don’t deposit money into my...
The combination of hubris and aspiration, liberally sprinkled with puffery make many value sets mosh pits of self-delusion.So there’s every chance your company values are complete bullshit. And if they are, it’s a quick ride on the slip slide to cynicism and ridicule when actions reveal them to be naked...
The sign on the counter said: ”If you’re not satisfied with your stay, let us know and we’ll make it right.”I’m sure plenty of similar signs litter hotels worldwide. It’s a reassuring sign. A promise to fix things. Pity it was rubbish.In the grand scheme of things, our problem was...
A friend Sue (not her real name) lives in a rental house that’s up for sale — in our overheated real estate market, it’s a common story.The landlord warned her about it late last year, so she wasn’t surprised when the real estate agent Dan (not his real name) got...
It started with a conversation: Me: “You don’t need to exceed expectations, just do what you say.”Them: “So, under-promise and then over-deliver.”Me: “No, set expectations, whatever they are and meet them — that’s it…”I recommended they read the Harvard Business Review article ‘Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers’, and while the...
The experience employees have becomes the experience customers have, which circles back around to employees in a loop. It can be a doom loop or a boon loop, and the identity of the organisation provides the energy.If the employees of your organisation feel caught in a mire of draconian decisions, disconnected...
