I was listening to a podcast from author Dan Heath, and he was talking about the power of moments - why certain experiences have extraordinary impact. (He’s also written a book with the same title.)
He explains that in our lives, there are some moments we will remember for decades, and others that expire almost as quickly as they occur. Moments are not created equal.
The key to creating moments we remember is to make them special. There are so many things that happen around us, but to make something great you have to do something memorable.
This reminds me of early in my career when I took over the position of head of sales, marketing, and strategy for a software company owned by a large engineering firm. During those days we were being asked by the president why our parent company should continue to invest in this small software division. What made us think we could compete with the other businesses in the enterprise asset maintenance space?
I could have given him a bunch of reports and statistics on the overall market. I could have talked about trends and what great things were happening. But would that be memorable? Would that be a moment? Honestly, no.
Instead, what I did was change the conversation from how could we compete in the software space to how could the other players compete in the maintenance space. I flipped the script to focus on the fact that our product was maintenance bred and that we were born out of the space – our competitors were not.
I wanted them to remember this. So, I went to the president wearing a tool belt loaded with pamphlets and booklets filled with company information. I was, in effect, equipped with our company tools. I was a sight for sore eyes as I stood in the mahogany board room wearing my suit and a tool belt. I created a moment.
Now, I’m not sure the overall project was a success, but I am sure that my presentation is something the president and the executive team will never forget.
What are you doing to create powerful moments and experiences your team will never forget?
Until next time…I’m Marty, make every minute count.
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