Do you ever have a book that keeps appearing on your radar over and over? You see it on every bookshelf, you hear people quoting from it, and several of your friends tell you (in the same week), “You should read this book. You’ll love it.”
That’s what happened with The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. One of our recent guests asked if we had read the book because, as he said, “You guys already DO this stuff.” He was right. This book resonated with all of us because we’ve discovered that moments can make or break the entire perception of a meeting. Creating memorable moments for guests is one of our primary goals.
We read the Power of Moments and dedicated one of our recent staff meetings to a book club type discussion. We unanimously agreed that we loved the book, not just because it aligns with the way we operate, but because it also provided us with new ways to think about how we can create even more peak moments for our guests, team, families, etc.
I asked my team what their favorite quotes from the book were. There are SO many good ideas in this book, however since our business revolves around meetings, team building, and service.
Here are our favorite quotes from the Power of Moments book:
“Not every meeting needs to be a “defining moment.” But once every 5 to 10 meetings, find a way to break the script.”
“Beware of the soul-sucking force of ‘reasonableness’ otherwise you risk deflating your peaks. Speed bumps are reasonable. Mount Everest is not reasonable.”
“Laughter is more about the relationships than the humor. We laugh to tie the group together. Our laughter says, I’m with you. I’m part of your group.”
“Being innovative starts with getting outside the office and it doesn’t ‘hurt’, it feels good! It stimulates you and stretches you and reinvigorates you.”
“You endure a grueling experience with others and emerge with bonds that will never break.”
“In life, we can work so hard to get the kinks out that we forget to put the peaks in.”
“To elevate a moment, do three things: First, boost sensory appeal. Second, raise the stakes. Third, break the script.”
“The ‘occasionally remarkable’ moments shouldn’t be left to chance! They should be planned for, invested in. They are peaks that should be built. And if we fail to do that, look at what we’re left with: mostly forgettable.”
“To exceed customer expectations and create a memorable experience, you need the behavioral and interpersonal parts of the service. You need the element of pleasant surprise.”
“To increase positive variance is to welcome humanity and spontaneity into the system. And that means giving employees license to break the script.”
“The reason people hate meetings is that emotion is deliberately squeezed out. Participants sit and listen to programmed presentations. But this is a choice, not an inevitability. You can just as easily conduct a meeting that has drama, meaning, and connection. You cannot bring two teams together by simply talking about unity. They must experience unity. That’s what makes it a defining moment.”
And our favorite quote from Power of Moments:
“It’s going to be way harder than you think to create peaks. But once you’ve done it, you’re going to consider every ounce of effort worth it.”