Most Companies Still Don't Get It

Kudos to Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart

Congratulations to Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, who were inducted into The Songwriters Hall of Fame last month and will be inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November, for their indelible contributions to pop music.

Dave and I connected when he was a guest on my radio show series, and I found him to be a fearless, cultural innovator. We shared a profound conversation around the thrill of continuously pursuing new frontiers and incessantly harnessing our childhood sense of creativity. There was also a funny moment when I called Dave at a scheduled time, and he was still talking with Mick Jagger on the other line.

My favorite quote from the conversation, which made it to the back cover of my Slingshot book:

“Slingshot is like looking at things through the other end of a telescope.” – Dave Stewart

#eurythmics #music #rock&roll #innovation #popculture #creativity
The Un-Carrier: T-Mobile disrupts U.S. mobile telecom
An industry disruptor is one that shakes up an industry by challenging taken for granted assumptions and rules of competition. It is able to disrupt and reshape an industry by delivering tangible value focused on the needs of customers, while the incumbent industry players are focused on trying to outcompete each other.
Theatre of the absurd continued: Giant space umbrella
Following up on my story last week about GE’s big idea for using CO2 emissions, let’s continue with another seemingly wacky, repurposing concept again this week. How about a giant space umbrella to solve the problem of global warming?
Re-Imaging Boundaries with YPO Portugal

It was great to be in Lisbon last week and to spend an enjoyable day with members of YPO Portugal. During our workshop session at the majestic The One Palacio da Anunciada hotel, we explored how to lean into uncertainty, master creative transformation, and continuously re-imagine boundaries in business and in our personal lives.

This mindset and accompanying step by step approach is critical for navigating high volatility and enabling us to be among the future shapers.

#ypo #leadership #strategy #changemanagement #innovation #transformation
Companies with the best sense of humor
At the start of this month was arguably the most important date of the annual corporate calendar. It was none other than April 1st, aka April Fools Day. Humor is one of the most universal manifestations of creativity, which is the central fuel for future-shaping companies. Not surprisingly, more and more organizations worldwide are embracing humor as a core cultural dimension, and we see an exponential, global proliferation from year to year of companies commemorating April Fools’ Day, the annual celebration of laughter and childlike fun. These organizations conceive of and bring to life farcical campaigns on April 1st, signaling to all internal and external constituents that they, as an organization, have a sense of humor and appreciate levity.
Beyond Disruption

Last month Professors Kim & Mauborgne published their new book entitled ‘Beyond Disruption’. The book lays out the essence and path to nondisruptive creation - the optimal type of market-shaping innovation that benefits society and all stakeholders, without causing any casualties or displacement.

I have very fond memories of my close association with the two professors during the launch and popularization of Blue Ocean Strategy, and my Slingshot platform was born as the result of that work.

The focus of their new book is highly relevant and especially timely for the post-pandemic world where a new type of leadership is needed, one based on transformational, yet sustainable and positive-sum market strategy.

#disruption #blueoceanstrategy #innovation #markettransformation #leadership #creativity #sustainability
When Customer Discomfort attracts Presidential Intervention

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, U.S. President Biden launched an initiative forcing airlines to eliminate ‘junk fees’ – hidden, punitive charges added to basic airfare. He is proposing the Junk Fee Prevention Act, saying “We’ll prohibit airlines from charging $50 round-trip for a family just to be able to sit together, baggage fees are bad enough. Airlines can’t treat your child like a piece of baggage.”

Such action on the part of the President should be a wakeup call for all businesses to reexamine their customers’ experience, in search of major pain points. And there is no shortage of them in any industry. According to the recently published annual Customer Rage Survey, a record number of Americans are finding faults with companies’ products and services – 74% of respondents experienced a product or service problem in the past year.

So why not seize the opportunity and be the first to remove or transform the most bothersome aspects of your industry’s customer experience? Alternatively, you can wait until your customers flee in search of more pleasant experiences and a presidential intervention forces you to do so.

#customerexperience #innovation #presidentBiden #junkfees #markettransformation
Big Miss by SWISS

In an article I wrote for HBR entitled What we can learn from one of the worlds most mocked cars , I used the tragicomic tale of the mighty Trabant - the ultimate symbol of command-driven economics under communism - to illustrate the perils of disregarding customer experience.

It so happens that a recent and sadly still ongoing saga with SWISS International Airlines is reminiscent of the customer experience blindness the Trabant embodied.

Let me preface my tale by referencing another. Namely, the story of musician Dave Carroll. Dave was flying on United in 2009 and had his guitar damaged by the airline’s luggage handlers. He patiently followed protocol to recoup damages but was consistently met by uncaring and dismissive bureaucracy. So he took an alternative approach, and wrote a song about his experience entitled ‘United breaks guitars’. The song’s video immediately went viral, received a flood of media attention, and triggered a 10% ($180 million) drop in the airline’s stock price, causing it to revamp its customer service processes: A-broken-guitar-a-youtube-video-and-a-new-era-of-customer-service

Dave’s feel-good story illustrates the significant power spurned customers have today to push back by sharing their indignation, and the danger for companies who fail to act honorably. Every company can make a mistake and inadvertently inconvenience customers. What really shows character is how a company handles or mishandles such situations.

Similar to Dave, here is what happened in a nutshell:
- A companion and I flew from Budapest to Geneva on SWISS at the end of March for a late season ski weekend. Upon arrival and following much delay, we were informed by an airline representative that our checked ski equipment bag was in fact on a transatlantic flight to NYC by mistake. As a result, we were forced to rent or buy all ski gear during our stay.
- The missing luggage was only found and returned a week later, well after our trip was complete. The bag had been opened and the skis were badly scratched.
- Following protocol, I filed a lost/damaged luggage report and detailed all associated costs. This set in motion a bizarre, almost laughable chain of email correspondences with what I can only assume to be an automated system, as the airline provides no means to a talk to a live customer care specialist.
- Through the salvo of emails I was first informed that only a fraction of our documented costs would be reimbursed (without explanation), then told that no reimbursement would be made at all and the case was closed because our country of residence did not match the country of our bank account (a ridiculous stipulation given that a large portion of travelers use neobanks which only operate online), and later notified that partial reimbursement would in fact be made within 14 days. This sequence of messages was then repeated, creating a Monty Python-esque circle of misinformation.
- It is now over 3 months since the ill-fated incident, still no reimbursement, and no correspondence at all from SWISS since June 9^th. I must have written something gravely offensive to the automated system causing it to go silent on me.
Ultimately, it seems that the legacy of Swissair – which had a reputation for exemplary customer care – may be too much for SWISS International to live up to. But there is no excuse for wasteful and belittling processes that prevent rather than assist inconvenienced passengers in their pursuit of just compensation. It’s the surest way to turn brand loyalists into vocal critics. Now that I think about it, perhaps I should commission Dave to turn my SWISS tale into a new song?

#SWISS #airlineservice #customerexperience #customerservice #customercare
Repackaging Customer Pain as Motivation

At the heart of the Slingshot Framework is the premise of always identifying customer pain points and transforming them into points of delight and infatuation. The continuous pursuit of such transformation is what creates irresistible offerings.

Here is an interesting and humorous twist on this process. The Manuscript Writing Café in Tokyo only caters to writers on a deadline, and does not let them leave until their work is finished. Customers can select the level of pressure they will be subjected to by the staff, for example choosing an "S" treatment means that they will be pressured aggressively to complete their work, while "M" represents a milder level of anxiety and less frequent monitoring of their progress.

In essence, the café is replacing the customer pain point of procrastination with another pain point, that of coercion. This is seemingly a welcome substitution of pain by their target audience because it provides them the necessary motivation to ultimately reach their desired point of joy: That of completing their work.

To learn more about the café: https://grapee.jp/en/199026

#motivation #customerexperience #marketinnovation #cafe #customerjourney #innovation
Africa Rising

I am looking forward to be in Accra, Ghana next week, for the Africa Rising Conference. The event is organized by the International Advertising Association, in partnership with Google, CNN, Nedbank, and MTN:

http://africarising.iaaglobal.org/

My presentation will be on the enticing topic of 'The Magical Bridge between Brands and People', and promises to be a highly interactive and thought-provoking session.

Interesting Fact: Did you know that Ghana was the first African country below the Sahara to gain its independence?

#innovation #leadership #transformation #smartstrategy #sustainability

Most Companies Still Don't Get It

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