March Newsletter
My t-shirt
Here the shortcuts to this months musings:
Every month I put out an update on what I am working on, what I am talking to people about and what I am reading. All this gets put together into a Newsletter which you can sign up for. It comes once a month and I promise there is no other use of your email address to me. I appreciate those who do both to receive and read my updates. Thanks!
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Writing right now is a bit more challenging with the news happening in real time. I have business partners in Ukraine and follow their posts closely. Writing makes me focus, even if for just a short time so maybe this moment will be a short therapy for me.
I picked up on a quote from a famous designer who said “design is intentional”. I take that into the digital world as as ‘yes’. Everything we interact with online has been designed by someone and was meant to be that way. Stay tuned to next month’s newsletter where I will go deeper on that point.
Experience is Everything
I’ve been making my own t-shirts with phrases on them for years. Wear them everywhere too. Sometimes my bosses were not that thrilled when I would show up at an event or climb up onstage wearing a t-shirt saying “Experience is Everything”. It is the t-shirt I am wearing now while writing this.
I spoke with Maarten Copini at the end of January about the state of customer experience as he heads a team of consultants at NTT who work with all the biggest firms in Europe. It felt like I was talking with a colleague as both of us have over 20 years in the “CX” space. Really a fun conversation for me. We talk about how the pandemic has changed priorities at companies and how the focus on the employee is taking off!
More importantly we talked about the disconnect between what happens in customer care centers and the boardroom and why little real progress has been made in the last 10 years. This, of course, is a pet peeve of mine and keeps me busy trying to figure out how we will make real change. Links to the podcast is below.
Links
https://digital-done-right.com/new-normal-podcast-1/2022/02/09/maartencopini
Sharing is Caring
I released a second podcast interview this month with Leo Prada. Based in Sao Paolo, Argentina. We “met” the usual way: via social media back in 2018 or so. We had chatted about an appearance on the podcast for a few years but never got around to it, or better we never found a clear topic to talk about. Well, that changed! Leo manages software development projects virtually from his home with team members across the globe. I wanted to learn what tools does he use to keep in touch with all those developers as well as his clients. It is really simple; Slack and Zoom.
More interesting was a personal program he began last year called #MeetLeosContacts. Over the years he has amassed over 20.000 connections on LinkedIn and wanted to give back to his community. He offers any of his connections to make a short video where they can “pitch” to his audience. Leo speaks a number of languages and so do his connections. They can come in a variety of languages which makes it really interesting to follow. Moreover, Leo has learned the great feeling he has when a connections tells him how they connected with one of this others connections. Exactly what Leo was hoping to achieve. Now he knows what his calling is; giving back to others. Actually he began that very early in his career as an interpreter he learned then how to “build bridges” as he calls it.
Link to his page and the podcast is below. Also the link to the “pitch” video he made of himself is below. Have a look!
Links
https://digital-done-right.com/new-normal-podcast-1/2022/02/22/leoprada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPoAVlCCU44&list=PLxf7joGtbvDYImBoIrN7uTqZPA3cNtdkL&index=19
Podcast Interview with a Library?
I am off to the US in March and will be visiting a newly opened library in Florida. I have two interview partners willing to sit with me and talk about, well, libraries in 2022. You know my New Normal is about how the digital world is being used for good today. So, where does a library fit? Good question!
That is why I am headed there to learn myself and then share with you all. Subscribe to the podcast in your favorite app or continue to read the newsletter as I will be sharing all that I learn here as well. If you have any ideas for questions to ask, drop me a note!
Hey, if you made it this far then, thanks! I hope it was worth your time and if you have a comment please leave one below. I am on a journey to learn how people and organisations are coping in this New Normal. If you are interested in sharing your story or know of someone who might, just reach out. Use the contact form here and leave me a short note. I would love to hear your story.
Thank you for coming here and sharing your day with my stories.
/Andrew