Category: Heart on your sleeve
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Uncanny attachment to a non-person
Josh Barro is creeped out by people who get emotionally attached to their suppliers. He thinks people are foolish to expect real friendship from a company, but I think companies are made of people, and if those people recognize and appreciate us, then it adds to our quality of life. Where I think he's right is that…
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Simplicity drives loyalty for Google, Netflix, Amazon, Chipotle…
Recently recognized for their ability to delight customers with simplicity of use, Google, Netflix, Amazon and Chipotle made it to the top five of the "simple brands" identified by customer experience strategy consultant Siegel+Gage. Among the up-and-coming "simple brands," Dollar Shave Club says "Dollar Shave Club couldn't be simpler. Select one of our great…
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Loyalty to suppliers and supporters: Ina Garten
Otherwise known as the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten has built a sustainable empire from a food shop to media brand. Strategically, she knows exactly where she wants her business centered: writing cookbooks. She builds a broad variety of relationships, and not everyone survives, but she clearly makes it a goal to find a partner around…
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Fighting every instinct, trying to communicate vision for a group
Part of being a leader is making sure the vision is communicated. As an innovator, I find that extremely difficult because I don't like repeating myself. I want to find a NEW thing to say. I work hard at being a good leader, but I may be missing the very first step. So onto…
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Why building a solid culture is tricky–what you say you believe doesn’t matter.
As I build my understanding of leadership and customer experience, I'm frequently struck by leaders who struggle with the idea of culture. They want to extract the necessary culture to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, culture is so deeply rooted in the behavior of the leaders, that trying to manage it is challenging. Leaders have to…
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How to live without being defined by edges
I spend way too much time reading. But occasionally I stumble across something that blows open my mind, making it possible for me to reach the next level of achievement, or something… a higher state of existence. If you want to go there youself, stop reading this and instead read The Web’s Grain by Frank…
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Why you can’t motivate other people
Thanks to Ann Iverson for linking up this classic McKinsey article about customer experience. We are reminded that you can manage your company culture and incentives, but you cannot actually motivate people–they decide to act based on their motivation. All you can do is set the stage for them. When your organizing your team, you…
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Is Friendship Being Changed by Social Media?
My assumptions about friends on social media were up-ended by this story in The Atlantic. A well-connected artist decided to get to know her 600+ Facebook "friends" better. Much to her and my surprise, many casual connections were excited to extend their friendship off-line. She visited and photographed them, usually in their homes. My hunch…
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Trying not to frighten people by talking about innovation all the time
In reviewing the challenges and frustrations of the past year, it's clear I need to do more to build trust. Not trust that I'm honest, but trust that I'm dependable and responsible. I clearly spend too much time trying to encourage people to take risks. Innovation Excellence: Re-Framing Innovation in 2015, 2015-Jan-1 by Mukesh Gupta…
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Why the power of relationships drives my work
Lately I've been questioning what it is that I do. Where do I contribute? I know that my passion is in helping businesses build stronger relationships. Too many businesses look for transactions. But transactions, whether of love or commerce, arise because people think they can do something better with you than without you. David Brooks…
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