From The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath.
There are 4 main ingredients in meaningful moments:
Elevation, Insight, Pride and Connection.
Elevation
- To increase elevation, build peaks
“Schools need to be so much more like sports” “in sports there’s a game and it’s in front of an audience. We run school like it’s a non stop practice. You never get a game.”
Elevate the positives > eliminate the negatives
It’s way more profitable from a business perspective to turn a 5 out 7 rating to a 7 out of 7 than it is to turn ALL the 2 out of 7s into the 5 out of 7 range. Happiest customers (7/7 rating) spend 8x more than the average customer. Reminds me of Seth Godin’s advice when I asked a question at his live event. He said 98% of your time should be spend on people who already get the joke.
Gene O’Kelley’s story about getting a terminal illness and creating as many “perfect moments” as possible in his last three months to live.
“This is the great trap of life: One day rolls into the next, and a year goes by and we still haven’t had that conversation we always meant to have. Still haven’t created that peak moment for our students. Still haven’t seen the northern lights. We walk a flat land that could have been a mountain range.”
- To elevate a moment, break the script
The North Face and Jansport retreat when the employees arrived to a conference center and the room was filled with sofas and been bags, then, they all got off site and had unique experiences like cooking, surfing, climbing etc… To boost inspiration and collaboration.
Insight
- Trip over truth
Make it so obvious that people realize the learning for themselves.
At the Course Design Institute, they took professors who taught boring classes and asked them to answer this question about their dream student, “3-5 years from now, my students still know____ Or they are still able to do ____. Or they still find value in ____.”
They all say high level things like “understanding the scientific process,” “collaborating with peers” and more. Then he asks them to pull out their syllabi for the course they are teaching and asks how much of the syllabus is dedicated to doing those things. It’s usually very little. That’s the trip over truth moment.
- stretch for insight
Vocation Vacations, now called Pivot Planet, allows you to take a few days to shadow someone to test drive you “dream job.” Owning a bed and breakfast, running a winery or opening a bakery etc…
“Formula” / mentorship framework:
high standards and assurance+ direction and support = enhanced self insight
script: i have high expectations and I know you can do well
suggesting ways to improve and learn more
reflection
Pride
- recognize others
- multiply milestones
- practice courage
Giving Voice to Values – The best way to speak up when you observe unethical behavior is to have practiced it before. Most people know WHAT to do, but don’t know HOW to speak up because they never practiced.
Connection
- create shared meaning
Shared struggle creates deeper relationships.
People will choose to struggle if: The work means something to them, they have the autonomy to carry it out and it’s their choice to participate or not.
Purpose is’t discovered, it’s cultivated. Taking time to read stories of other people finding purpose in the work increased lifeguards sense of purpose.
- deepen ties
Great relationships are built on “responsiveness”
There are three components:
Understanding – My partner knows how I see myself and what is important to me
Validation – My partner respects who I am and what I want
Caring – My partner takes active and supportive steps in helping me meet my needs
“Clinicians need to relinquish their role as the single, paternalistic authority and train to become more effective coaches or partners – learning how to ask “What matters to you? as well as “What’s the matter?”
- making moments matter
Often times moments that matter are a built of many moments in the past and suddenly they make sense and there is an “A-ha!”