You have to think forward and create something extraordinary – it won’t just happen on its own. However, you can’t get into a totally defensive mindset.
When customers complain or when something goes wrong, they go out of their way and over the top to make it right. Great service companies are good in the good times but they really shine in the bad times.The first day should not be a checklist of bureaucratic principles but a happy day in which you engage them socially, intellectually, and culturally This will help us pay appropriate attention to when moments must be special (such as a new employee’s first day). We must think in moments rather than in goals.Multiply meaningful milestones so that you have more peak moments along your journey.They spur people to work hard and should be structured so that people push themselves to reach them quickly and often. Milestones define moments which are reachable and conquerable.Focusing on moments means you focus on transitions, milestones, and even pits – dark moments which must be overcome if possible.Engineer magical moments and much else can be forgotten or forgiven This is important for anybody in any type of service industry. We must therefore focus on the peaks, troughs, and transitions. People have something called duration neglect – people focus on the best or worst moments and not the duration of them.Milestones, Transitions, Peaks, and Pits.If we want more moments of connection, we need to be more responsive to others This takes caring, understanding, and validation. Relationships flourish when the other person responds to us.Create shared moments through synchronicity, shared pain, and by showing that what you’re doing really matters.The purpose of stretching is not success but learning and self-insight This stretches the mentee and leads to self-insight. They also make sure to provide assurance, direction, and support. Great mentors have high standards and push their mentees.Action leads to insight far more often than insight leads to action It is far more effective to gain self-insight through action and studying our behaviors than merely studying our thoughts.They don’t force any solutions or insights on the people they question, but their questions spur insights and make it their idea to change their sanitation practices. Community Led Total Sanitation ( CLTS) asks open ended questions in Third World countries about where and how they defecate.
They quickly found out how difficult it was and changed how the database and process was structured At the beginning of his tenure, the head of Microsoft Azure had his team build an app using Azure.
For insight based moments, you must set it up so that the insights can be reached quickly and by the audience themselves.This will help show both of you how you’ve grown together and what you’ve accomplished In marriages, they recommend having an “anniversary track record” in which you discuss what you’ve accomplished together, what you’re bickering about, what you’re thinking about, what you’ve done, where you’ve traveled, etc.In some youth sports leagues, they filmed the kids before and after to show them them how much they’ve improved during the year.They are moments in which we see how much we’ve grown, what we’ve accomplished or overcome, etc. Defining moments catch us at our best and cause great pride.You elevate moments by increasing the sensory input, by breaking the script, and/or by raising the stakes.EPIC Is a handy acronym to remember these four types of defining moments. Some powerful moments contain all four of the following characteristics, but they might not have them all: elevation (fun/surprise), pride, insight, and connectivity.This book examines these moment’s common characteristics and how you can bring them into existence more often, rather than simply relying on luck or serendipity. A defining moment is a moment which is short but meaningful, which rewires how we think about ourselves or the world, and our life is composed of these moments.