December 24th: Just Like the Ones I Used to Know ??

Christmas Eve was always the busiest day of the year for Santa Claus. Therefore it was important for him to get a good start on the day. Just like every year, this meant that he and Mrs. Claus sat in their small kitchen and discussed the season, what had gone well, and what needed to be improved. This year, they had a lot more to talk about than in previous years, because they had made so many changes. And today they had an extra topic they had looked forward to very much – the result of the survey about Christmas they had commissioned. They had received the results only hours ago and they studied them eagerly and carefully.

One of the main things they had investigated was how many children, twelve years-old and younger, actually believed in Santa Claus. And among those who didn’t, why not? The number was actually a little higher than they expected: 73%. That was good news. The bad news was the main reason why the non-believers rejected Santa’s existence. They felt he was something that had been made up by smart business people to increase their sales. This made both Santa and Mrs. Claus sad, because deep inside they knew they had a problem they had neglected for many years. Santa had become a symbol of supercharged commercialism.

“Santa,” Mrs. Claus started. “It was probably a terrible mistake to make that marketing agreement with Coca-Cola back in 1931. Not that there’s anything wrong with Coca-Cola, but this agreement started the commercialization of you, and that’s what we really suffer from these days. It’s only gotten worse.”

“Hmmmh,” answered Santa. “I’m sure you’re right, but back then it seemed like such a good idea. It’s definitely helped promote the image of me as kind. It wasn’t always like that, remember?”

“I do remember, but we got carried away. The Coca-Cola deal was good because it was a mutual agreement, but since then it seems as if everybody is taking advantage of you to sell the most peculiar things that have nothing to do with Christmas at all.”

“Yes, you’re right. We should have stopped that decades ago, but it’s never too late. When I return tomorrow, we will do what the good Dr. McKinley suggested. We’ll create ‘Christmas, Inc.’ and this company will be the only one who can assign the rights to other companies to use me in their marketing.”

“Excellent idea. And speaking of Dr. McKinley, he wasn’t too bad after all. He was on the right track with some of his solutions, but he made a terrible mistake. He tried to convince us with all his fancy presentations, but he never spoke to our hearts. That’s what you do so well, Santa, and that’s why you can make changes.”

“Well thank you, dear wife,” said Santa with a smile on his face. “I’m not used to you praising me like that, but I can tell you one thing. I made a huge mistake by hiring Dr. McKinley as a consultant. We should have at least investigated the problem ourselves before asking someone to tell us what to do.”

“You’re absolutely right. He really suffered from analysis paralysis. Of course, it’s not wrong to try to understand, but he wanted to understand all the things that matter less than the most important thing: our customers. I really think it’s quite obvious that you can’t make any decisions without knowing what your customers think and feel.”

“No,” said Santa. “You can’t. And there’s one more thing I’ve learned. It’s not enough to make decisions; that’s the easy part. The difficult part is to implement the decisions.”

“Absolutely, but I must say that you have done a good job in that respect. You have listened carefully to what everyone has said, but at the same time you have been clear about what you want. That’s good leadership and in times of change, there is no substitution for that.”

“Thanks,” said Santa, clearly happy about his wife’s comments. He was about to say more, but was interrupted by Mrs. Claus.

“Before you get complacent and think you’ve won the war,” she said, “let me tell you this. You have only won the first of many battles. Yes, we’ve come a long way these past weeks, but we’re definitely not yet where we want to be. Now it’s important for us to keep the momentum up and constantly make improvements and progress. Then next year’s Christmas will be even better.”

They were interrupted by one of the reindeer calling for Santa. It was time for him to start his ride to visit all the good children around the world.

Mrs. Claus smiled lovingly at him. “Off you go, Santa. Now you need to rise and shine. Don’t forget that next year we will shoot for the moon, because even if we miss, we will still land among the stars.”

Main take-aways:

?? Fancy presentations are of no value if they don’t speak to the heart, as opposed to the brain

?? Most change efforts are in vain without deep insight into the customers’ thoughts and feelings

?? Thinking up changes is easy, implementing them is difficult, keeping momentum is a real challenge

To download your copy of the 'Santa, We Need Change!' eBook please clicking here.