May the Force be with you #ForceAwakensDay

Today is a big day for Starwars fans around the globe as the "Force Awakens" makes its way to sneak peak showings around the world.  I pre-purchased my tickets 2 minutes after they went on sale (East coast time) which was pretty savvy for a Orange County based super fan since I suspected the mainline movie ticket servers were going to be crushed from the demand and they were.

I find being a CX Practitioner is very similar to life as a Jedi - we often find ourselves in situations that seemly only we know and can sense,  in a room of colleagues or associates that CX (aka. the Force) is all around us, it's like an energy field that is created by all of the living things inside, outside, around our companies CX Eco-system.  It surrounds us, penetrates us; it binds our brand and our companies success together.

If  you understand the ways of CX, then you understand that is indeed like a law of aerodynamics - there are principals that create lift, and others that create drag, and when leveraging these principals correctly, you can use the CXForce as a powerful ally, because the life of your CX eco-system creates it, makes it grow, and it's energy surrounds us and binds us encouraging all elements to thrive, as Master Yoda would teach us.

So how you explain an amazingly complex thing, that is invisible, but absolutely controls the fate of your enterprise, the aspirations of your associates, the engagement and loyalty of your customers, and the attraction of your prospects?  Growing up in an Aviation space as I did back in Merritt Island, FL, and running a small flight school in my early twenties before working at Kennedy Space Center for 8+ years launch Space Shuttles I can't help but use an Aviation example.

Here is a wonderful video sequence developed by the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) organization in the UK.  Please click in - I promise you, this is the best way to spend the next spare 2:30 minutes you have.  It's concluding tag line is "Airspace: the invisible infrastructure - Powering leisure, commerce and industry".

When I think about CX and the CX Eco-System that each and every business has surrounding it, I can't help to see this video in my head.  None of the passengers on these flights can see this thing, nor the families waiting to greet them at LHR.  The pilots are aware of it, but only relative to their glide paths or departure instructions for their flight number.  Even the London Heathrow Tower operators are only aware of their small but important part of this larger eco-system - it's really not until you step back to near earth orbit and look down over the span of 3 hours time can you see the truly magnificent beauty of this invisible infrastructure in action.  And just like CXForce - it works on laws and principals that when properly followed, produce value, order, safety, and success...

Which brings me to one of my favorite pictures of all time - the photo at the top of our blog.  Meet Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed "Lawnchair Larry", an American truck driver who took flight in July 2, 1982 in a home made airship.  The "Airship" consisted of an ordinary patio chair with 45 helium-filled weather balloons attached to it, and a bb gun.  He rose to an altitude of over 15,000 feet and floated from San Pedro California into controlled airspace near LAX.  I like to call this story the fable of "Well Intentioned, Self-Impowered" people.   Just because we can do a thing, doesn't mean we should do a thing, and in the world of CX Ecosystems - one rouge player can unbalance the CXForce and cause a disturbance that can be felt by all other elements of the eco-system.

CX -  it's been said is a team sport, but it's more than that - it's also an elemental principal in the world of business, commerce, community and civilization.  Understanding it and leveraging it helps everyone.  Going against it, or thinking it doesn't apply to me, can impact everyone.

Learning the ways of the CXForce and leveraging it for the good of your company, your customers, your associates & colleagues, and the betterment of society I now realize is my path and I highly encourage everyone to come along as we learn and figure out this together.

May the force be with you, always...

my son Noah - the force is strong in him too