In a past episode of his podcast Making Sense, Sam Harris talked to author and NY Times columnist David Brooks about his book The Road to Character. The episode was titled ‘On Becoming a Better Person’* and my ears perked up when it landed on promises. David commented, Self-improvement is part of being an...
No surprise. When people can rely on a good experience interacting with you, you get a brand bursting with value. Yet, how much do you control? Because an experience is always in the now. Yep, the moment right then. And here comes another one, in a constant, unstoppable stream of...
by Michel Hogan and David Finn* Ever wondered how, despite the best intentions of everyone involved, promises get broken? You thought the detail was nailed. Everyone was working hard to make it happen. Then bit by bit, things unravelled, and time ran out. What went wrong? What unpredictable forces undermined your...
When you say someone has a reputation for something, what do you mean? Whether it's positive or negative, a reputation is generally when people share what they repeatedly hear or see and come to know about you from things you do. Either from personal experience or via others. They’re super...
When Michael Garcia bought drinks at a Starbucks drive-through in February 2020, one of the venti-sized cups of scalding hot tea fell into his lap. He claimed the lid was loose and the cup wasn’t properly wedged into the drink carrier. The resulting third-degree burns to his private parts required skin...
Have you ever needed to change a promise? Committed and agreed, then circumstances went pear-shaped or something unexpected got in the way. You feel conflicted. Social practice says you must keep your promises. No matter what’s happening. I’m guilty of that. My work is littered with encouraging words for how to make...
Habits and rituals can look similar. They’re not, and I’ve focused on the habit side of things for too long. That changed when I read The Ritual Effect by Professor Michael Norton. Norton says, “One automates, the other animates”. Elaborating that “Habit is the what. It’s something we do. … We...
Did you get the blue screen of death? CrowdStrike is having a very bad week. It’s early days on the details, and plenty of pundits have already weighed in on what happened and the potential cost. Because when you promise your product will protect computers and instead it shuts them down, your...
After a door panel blew out mid-flight, an FAA audit gave Boeing until the end of May to sort out continuing problems with its planes. The deadline is fast approaching, and it’s still unclear if executive exits, reshuffles and statements about “building on the learnings” will be enough to satisfy...
This started as a different article about the elements that make up an experience. But after rumbling them and examining what organisations do and don’t control, I realised the details are less important than how they turn into value. Which led me back to promises. In the hands of organisations, experience is...