Rating: Excellent
The Power of Moment's blurb excerpt: What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later? What if a manager knew how to create an experience that would delight customers? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter to your children?
This book delves into some fascinating mysteries of experience: Why do we tend to remember the best or worst moment of an experience, as well as the last moment, and forget the rest? Why "we feel most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel most alive when they're not." And why our most cherished memories are clustered into a brief period during our youth.
My opinion: This is one of The Best Business Books I have ever read. Whether you are attempting to improve the culture of a company or looking for ways to enhance the customer experience this book is a must-read. It's packed with simple advice and practice examples. Understanding the mechanics of creating moments and implementing just one or two strategic efforts can really make a difference. I highly recommend this book.
P.S Please forgive my summary, I lost my notes between finishing the book and attempting to publish this post.
Lessons from The Power of Moments;
We all have defining moments in our working lives – meaningful experiences that stand out in our memory. These moments seem to be the product of fate and luck. But is that true? Must our defining moments just happen to us? Or could we design and create them?
Moments shouldn’t be left to chance! They should be planned for, and invested in. They are peaks that should be built. If we fail to do that, look at what we’re left with: mostly forgettable experiences.
What is a defining moment? A defining moment is a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful.
Why do moments matter? When we assess our experiences, we don’t average our minute-by-minute sensations. Rather, we tend to remember flagship moments:
Peaks (the good )
Pits (the bad), and
Transitions (the periods of change - the end or beginning).
Companies and managers can architect moments that matter. Transitions should be marked, milestones commemorated, and pits filled.
If pits exist, fill them first, then focus on building the peaks.
How do you create moments that matter? They are created from one or more of the following elements: Elevation, Insight, Pride, or Connection.
Elevation – moments that rise above the everyday. They provoke not just transient happiness, like laughing at a joke, but memorable delight. To construct elevated moments, we must:
Boost sensory pleasure (turning up the volume” on reality.)
Raise the stakes (add an element of productive pressure: a competition, a game, a performance, a deadline, a public commitment.)
Break the script (strategic surprise that will defy people’s expectations of how an experience will unfold.).
How do you break the script consistently enough that it matters, but not so consistently that customers adapt to it? One solution is to introduce a bit of randomness.
Insight – moments that rewire our understanding of ourselves or the world. Delivering realizations and transformations. To deliver a moment of insight for others, we can lead them to “Trip over the truth”. This involves:
A clear insight, that is
Compressed in time,
That is discovered by the recipient.
We also need to stretch. Mentors can help us stretch by using the formula of Stretching = High standards + assurance + direction + support
Expecting our mentees to stretch requires us to overcome our natural instinct to protect the people we care about from risk. To insulate them. Mentorship in two sentences: “I have high expectations for you and I know you can meet them. So try this new challenge and if you fail, I’ll help you recover.”
The promise of stretching is not success, it’s learning.
Pride – moments that capture or recognize us at our best – moments of achievement or courage. Whilst recognition is a universal expectation, it’s not a universal practice. The style of recognition is not important. What’s important is authenticity and frequency (closer to weekly than yearly). There are three practical principles we can use to create moments of pride:
Recognize others (Recognition is characterized by a disjunction: A small investment of effort yields a huge reward for the recipient)
Multiply meaningful milestones, and
Practice courage. Courage is contagious; our moments of action can be defining moments for others.
Connection – moments are social. These moments are strengthened because we share them with others. To spark moments of connection for groups, we must create shared meaning. This can be accomplished by three strategies:
Creating a synchronized moment
Inviting shared struggle
Connecting to meaning.
What deepens relationships is “responsiveness”: mutual understanding, validation, and caring.
Defining moments possess at least one of the four elements above, but they need not have all four.
Responsiveness
Our relationships are stronger when we perceive that our partners are responsive to us.
Responsiveness encompasses three things:
Understanding: They know how I see myself and what is important to me.
Validation: They respects who I am and what I want.
Caring: They take active and supportive steps in helping me meet my needs.
Workplace Satisfaction
The Gallup organization has developed a set of questions to assess employees’ satisfaction at work. They discovered that the six most revealing questions are as follows:
Do I know what is expected of me at work?
Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
The Power of Moments Quotes:
“Transitions should be marked, milestones commemorated, and pits filled. That’s the essence of thinking in moments.”
“There’s nine times more to gain by elevating positive customers than by eliminating negative ones.”
“If you want to be part of a group that bonds like cement, take on a really demanding task that’s deeply meaningful. All of you will remember it for the rest of your lives.”
“The “occasionally remarkable” moments shouldn’t be left to chance! They should be planned for, invested in.”
“Creating more memorable and meaningful experiences is a worthy goal”
“Beware the soul-sucking force of reasonableness”
"When it comes to performance, purpose trumps passion"
What Next:
If you loved this book, check out our list of all the books we rated Excellent.
Comments