Last week I was going through boxes in my parents’ basement & found pottery I had made when I was a kid. It conjured up so many happy memories, Saturday mornings spent at the South Bend Museum of Art learning the fundamentals of pottery from a patient & gifted teacher.
I remember leaving the first day of class disappointed that she didn’t let us go on the wheel – we were stuck doing pinch pots. A few weeks later we got to throw on the wheel & I remember coming home covered in clay & creativity – thinking about all the masterpieces I could create.
Being a CX leader is a lot like throwing a pot on a wheel 🎨
🎨 You must ensure your clay is ready for its big transformation by kneading it multiple times, ensuring it has the right moisture content, & eliminating any air bubbles (or else your pot will blow up in the kiln).
✔ For any CX transformation you need to ensure your organization is ready for the road ahead, they understand “the why” behind the change, & you’ve delivered a variety of support to employees: communication, education, reward & recognition, etc.
🎨When throwing the clay onto the wheel, you need to ensure the wheel is moving at just the right speed & that the clay lands in the exact center of the wheel. If not, you’ll end up with a lopsided pot, which no one will purchase (except your parents).
✔If you try to push CX transformation too quickly, no one will adopt the behavior change because you haven’t built their trust through co-creation or communication. The opposite is also true, if you don’t get enough momentum behind an initiative people won’t understand the sense of urgency & won’t join in the movement.
🎨Once your clay is successfully on the wheel, you must have the right amount of moisture, or it could turn into slop or dry out – causing the clay to be unmalleable.
✔Once you’ve launched a new CX initiative you must balance the right amount of communication with teams – gathering their feedback on how things are going so far, while not overwhelming them with constant changes to the program.
🎨As you’re working with your pot, stop the wheel & get perspective with what you’ve created. If you don’t, you’ll try to keep perfecting the pot & then one small move will cause your pot to collapse – ruining all your hard work.
✔After three months into your CX initiative – evaluate how things are going, celebrate the progress & clearly communicate the impact it has had on the organization. Without this progress check-in people will lose steam, feeling like their work is futile & give up on the transformation – putting you back at square one.
🎨What examples would you add to this list? Drop them in the comments!
If you’ve never taken pottery lessons, what are you waiting for?
There are so many great lessons that can be gleaned from creative endeavors.
#2024
#CultureandAccountability