When was the last time you bought a product, listened to a band, read a book, took in a view, or enjoyed a meal that gave you pause? When was the last time you stopped and said: “WOW?” How many times has an experience with service, a view, a phrase, a lyric, or a plate of food literally taken your breath away? Isn’t this what we hope for? Isn’t this what provides excitement in life and helps us to jump out of bed in the morning? Aren’t we all after those WOW experiences? Hopefully, you can point to a few of those moments in recent years, those moments when an experience brings a smile to your face, a sense of awe and wonder, and maybe even a tear of sheer joy, but it seems that they are rare unless you are on a focused mission, a dedicated pursuit to find them.
That first iPhone was a wow – something only dreamed of at the time, revolutionary in its power and potential. The Concorde that was able to fly from New York to Paris in two hours was a real wow for business travelers. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James were a wow. Thomas Edison was a WOW inventor who changed the world. Jeff Beck and Jimmy Hendrix were a wow, and Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller, and Ferran Adria were all a wow with their unique interpretations of food. Why is it so rare? Why is a wow experience isolated to a few crazy innovators who also charge loads of money to see and feel what they are capable of offering? Why can’t more experiences be of the WOW caliber?
All of those listed came about because certain individuals chose to invest the time, and effort to excel, to push forward, to bring groundbreaking ideas to fruition. Sure, there is talent involved, but talent without dedication and hard work rarely leads to wow products or experiences. Talent is never enough. Ironically though, hard work and dedication can, in some instances, make up for a lack of extraordinary talent. So, what gives? Do people give up too quickly on the pursuit of “over the top” excellence? Never forget that Michael Jordan practiced relentlessly. He threw 100 free throws before every game so that he could be one with the zone. The iPhone was imagined before anyone had the expertise to build it – but it was the vision and hard work that brought it to completion. Trotter, Keller, and Adria worked relentlessly to define and execute their vision on a plate and push their team members to have the same level of dedication. You too can be part of WOW.
When in pursuit of WOW, we must embrace a model of engagement that breaks free of the barriers to excellence. We must push aside doubt and a can’t do attitude and look at anything and everything as “possible”. Here are twelve thoughts, a few traits each of the visionaries/companies possessed:
[] DREAM:
Those involved in creating WOW are always dreaming of what could be, how to make the impossible-possible, how to improve people’s lives or re-define what excellence looks like. They color outside the lines and never allow tradition to define limitations. They never stop dreaming.
[] NEVER SAY NEVER:
Those involved in creating WOW are adamant about finding solutions and getting to that point of excellence that dreams are made of. A few words are erased from their repertoire: can’t, won’t, impossible, no, and surrender.
[] TEAM BUILDERS:
Those WOW aficionados know the only real way to arrive at excellence and WOW is to build a team of people just as committed to excellence but willing to challenge the thoughts currently on the table.
[] PRACTICE:
They work at it. Repetition is the key to exceptional skill development. Try, correct, repeat; try, correct, repeat.
[] ACCEPT FAILURE AS AN OPPORTUNITY:
WOW advocates embrace failure because they know that failure is a learning opportunity. Success will rarely come without some failure along the way. Thomas Edison is known for remarkable innovations that changed the world, yet few remember that he failed hundreds of times in the process. Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs in his career, but he also struck out 488 times.
[] DO THE WORK:
Ambassadors of excellence put in the effort – ALWAYS! They know that excellence never comes easily, it requires time and effort – more than most are willing to give.
[] PUSH ASIDE WHAT PEOPLE WANT AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY WILL WANT:
WOW never happens when we simply fulfill needs. WOW happens when we provide the totally unexpected; when we knock people’s socks off; when we re-invent the wheel; when we bring something to the table that no one else has even thought about.
[] NEVER BE SATISFIED:
Those individuals or companies that have changed something in their market have done so because they looked at what they were doing and said: “This is not good enough. This doesn’t excite or give people pause. I need to totally rethink everything.”
[] SEEK PERFECTION EVEN THOUGH IT CAN NEVER BE REACHED:
There is a story about a high-end auto manufacturer whose new television ad showed their car tooling down a city street with the windows closed in near complete silence. The ad stated: “When you drive our car the only thing you will hear is the ticking of the clock.” With his top management around the table, the CEO asked: “So, what are we going to do about the clock?” Never accept “good enough”.
[] LOOK IN A MIRROR AND ASK IF YOU ARE WORTHY:
We all take up space and put in our time, but a few choose to make that dent in the universe. The movers and shakers who re-define a market are the ones who look in that mirror and ask: “Am I worthy of this time spent?” Make a difference– be excellent.
[] HAVE FUN AND LET IT BE KNOWN:
As hard as they work, as driven as they may be – the WOW engineers enjoy what they do. Why else bother?
PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER
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