Musings on Chip and Dan Heaths book The Power of Moments. In the field of human psychology understanding a life of moments, what they mean and how we can use them to make life that little bit more engaging

1. Notes and Musings - by
James Cracknell of Relocon.
What I take away from
“The Power of
Moments”
by Chip and
Dan Heath
“We can be the designer of moments that
deliver elevation and insight and pride and
connection.”

2. Synopsis
Embedded in this work, as one would expect,
are pockets of wisdom that apply to business,
health, education and relationships. The
Heath brothers have a style of writing that is
accessible as well as being founded in
research and academia.
In life if we can create these ‘moments’ then
we all benefit, we grow a community, glued
together by those shared moments. Some
moments are unplanned – think about that –
unplanned moments we remember? Can we
create them and make more of them? These
moments share common aspects, moments
of uplift, of pride in doing something well, in
insight and discovery, and building meaningful
connections.
This book explores how we build exceptional,
memorable experiences that have lasting
impacts.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

3. Not all moments are
‘EPIC’
The authors caution us not to
think of the four elements of
moments, Elevation, Pride,
Insight and Connection as the
acronym, EPIC. Why? Because
moments are not always
positive, not always grandiose
and big, sometimes they are
small, personal and represent a
moment of ours.
A love letter may not be EPIC but
it can elevate us; a book we read
may create insight for you but
not me; getting 2:2 in my degree
was a proud moment but not
when you are climbing to a first;
the smell of fresh coffee can
transport me to a time and
person far away, to you it’s a
store cupboard necessity
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

4. Thinking in moments
Lets recognise where moments
arise
1. Transitions: Remember
your first day at school? Or
the day you left school and
went into work, the first
promotion or the
completion of the project
2. Milestones: retirement –
that hybrid moment of
transition meets a date in
the diary. Could we do
more to applaud
achievement yours and
others?
3. Pits: negative feedback, the
moment you think its ok
but someone you respect
disagrees – what a
moment! The day we lose
someone close to us or we
decide enough is enough
and close the doors

5. How could you
bring them to life?
• Transitions: how could you make moving
from one level to another a ‘big
celebration’? We want relationships that
last decades, anniversaries that we
celebrate. We must mark every transition
in some way
• Milestones: a start-up takes on their first
employee, make the induction process a
moment to remember.
• Pit: a customer looses their job, don’t close
the door on them, see how you can reduce
their anxieties. A friend suffers with
depression, offer them a kind word and
open door
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

6. Moments of
ELEVATION
How do we create defining moments –
since many believe the best moments
are those that are unplanned?
“Elevation are experiences that rise
above the routine. They make us feel
engaged, joyful, amazed, motivated.”
Two ways:
• Build peaks
• Break the script
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

7. Build peaks
Momentary peaks require us to:
1. Boost sensory appeal
2. Raise the stakes
3. To deliver the unexpected
Sensory appeal – peaks imply something good is happening, dressing
that moment up only highlights the peak. We often acknowledge the
peak by a changing into specific clothes or adhering to a ritual,
partaking of food, drink and dance.
Raising the stakes is about increasing the skin in the game, gaming a
situation, bringing a level of competition in, a deadline – having to
make a speech to acknowledge a peak.
Being reasonable is associated with what is expected. You pass an exam
and get a certificate in the post, you start a new job and would expect
to read a manual. So how about getting a personal call to congratulate
you on passing – or having the first day be a celebration day for the
business? Expect the voices of reason to suck the life from ideas like
these, challenge what is expected
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

8. Break the script
Bring in randomness to outcomes. Reward
customers with ‘spontaneous’ gifts – bring
uniqueness and humour to situations where
there is none.
Baseline levels of service. Yes. But treat every
customer differently not homogenously.
What do you want your brand to represent?
Creativity, humanity and being responsive.
Take people back to a feeling of newness.
To break the script is essential in
organisational change they signal a breaking
point between what is and what will be.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

9. Moments of INSIGHT
When do we get the greatest moments of insight? When
we succeed or when we fail? Moments are not always
emotional highs they are also the lows a realisation that
things must change.
Trip over the truth: to catch your brain on something and
then struggle with it. If we have an idea we want to sell –
we can promote its value or we can dramatize the story.
We must first appreciate the problem before we address
the solution.
Backward-integrated design that is – what is the goal of a
course, what would be a reasonable assessment criteria
and finally, what activities would lead a student to excel in
reaching that criteria.
Sounds simple but it’s not.

10. Stretch for Insight
“To stretch is to place ourselves in situations that expose
us to the risk of failure.”
We cannot always figure out the answer by constantly
reflecting on it in our heads, we have to make it happen to
learn if we are capable of doing it. So “action leads to
insights more often than insights leads to actions.”
Build your life trajectory including peaks and lows then use
the power of mentoring to bring out the best in you.
Mentors push us and they also stretch us, not having them
means we have to rely on introspection. Wise criticism –
use it wisely
“I know you are capable of great things if you will just put
in the work.”

11. Mentor Formula
High Standards + Assurance + Direction +
Support = Enhanced self-insight
Translates to:
“I have high expectations for you and I know
you can meet them. So try this new challenge
and if you fail I will help you recover.”
As a mentor we help push by stretching to create those
moments of clarity and insight. Ask “What have you
failed at this week?” – it gives permission to stretch

12. Moments of PRIDE
That moment when we are at our best,
we are courageous, earning
recognition and overcoming hurdles.
Hard work, skills enhanced all will give
opportunity but it is normally
recognition that stimulates pride.
But it is not us we are aiming it at it is
recognition in others.

13. Recognize
others
How can we take time out and make a
difference in someone’s life? Be observant
and recognise achievement where you see it,
not where you think its needed.
Employee of month - that’s simply not good
enough, we must be more focused than that.
When we recognise the work that others do
then they feel real pride.
So counter the underinvestment in praise and
make it real and uncynical.
A small expression of praise can make a
whole heap of difference to someone’s day.

14. Multiply Meaningful
Milestones
Let’s pursue a strategy of small wins over the
long game. The declared goal is one thing but
the milestones to achieving it is another.
You build to a degree or masters not by
devouring three years into one but by following a
path of mini-successes, modules. We build, we
game our way to the end and we reward
ourselves for every small step.
Redefine the goal from the abstract ‘degree or
award’ to a sensory event. Imagine the party you
can have when you reach the degree.
What is inherently motivating – what empowers
you or could empower you to greater things?

15. Practice Courage
Mark Twain said “Courage is resistance to fear,
master of fear – not absence of fear.”
The civil rights students who seated themselves at
the whites only counter of a restaurant were not
unpractised in what they would face. James
Lawson, a Methodist Minister prepared them for
the assault on their senses they would face. He sat
them there and shouted at them, hurled abuse at
them, physically manhandled them, in essence he
inoculated them from those who would challenge
their stand. Resolute, unflappable and focused they
were practiced in courage.
We never know when we might have to muster up
courage, it may not be as extreme as this but it will
require we muster courage. So practice it, rehearse
our responses.
Courage like a smile is contagious – seeing bravery
in action could be a stimulation for others to follow
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

16. Moments of
CONNECTION
Teams connect through shared meaning;
there is a “secret sauce” to personal
relationships; from stranger to friend in 45
minutes.
All of this makes the connection of ourselves
with others highly memorable moments.

17. Create Shared
Meaning
We cannot deliver a truly
outstanding customer
experience “without first
delivering a great employee
experience.” So far, many of the
moments are about impacting
the individual but the power of
delivering ‘moments’ where
those who experience it
collectively feel ‘united’, that can
be transformational. For change
to take hold we need to create
‘togetherness’ , which takes the
unification of three things:
1. The creation of a
‘synchronized moment’
2. The presentation of a
‘shared struggle’
3. A deep connection to a
common purpose

18. Synchronized
Moment
We often laugh not because things are funny, we
laugh because collectively it unifies us – laughter
sends out positive signals that synchronise us as a
group. Physical presence is vital to create
synchronisation if we are to create a ‘big moment’
where people are saying ‘This is important’, ‘This is
happening’ and ‘ We’re in this together’.
Peak moments are often those that bring people
together, happen together and reconnect or connect
people. Think of weddings and funerals, corporate
away days and those nerdy team bonding sessions.
All designed to emotionally synchronise us.
Fight the voices of reason who question whether it’s
worth it because of cost and complexity. High tech
digital solutions are great for daily engagement and
communication but no substitute for the human
communication that is face to face, eyeball to eyeball,
shoulder to shoulder and synchronised.

19. Shared struggle
In the Mauritius during a Hindu festival devotees
undergo two rituals. The first, a low-ordeal ritual of
chanting and prayer. The second, a high-ordeal full of
self-abusing activities like piercing your body with
needles, and walking up a mountain, barefoot, pulling a
cart attached to you with hooks buried in your skin.
Researchers offered low and high ordeal participants
200 Rupees (2-days salary) to fill in a questionnaire – this
offer was extended to those who observed. Once paid
they were given the chance to donate anonymously to
the temple. The result showed that low-ordeal
participants donated far less than those who suffered
the high-ordeal, but interestingly the observers of the
high-ordeal followers donated considerably more giving
away 80% of their money. The conclusion ‘the
perception of pain encourages ‘prosociality’ – that is
behaviours that benefit others.
Groups that develop bonds quickly have either
participated in or observed a meaningful struggle that
they directly can change.
The message is make work meaningful by making it
complex or hard, provide them with the autonomy to fix
it – we create moments of shared meaning

20. Common Purpose
Connecting people to something
meaningful, bigger than them is the
final strategy for making moments of
connection. The message here is that
“Purpose Trumps Passion” – and that
we all feel better when contribution
goes beyond self to society. If we can
combine purpose with passion then we
really can make a meaningful
connection.
Redemption Roasters is one such
business that combines the two. Read
about it here
http://www.relocon.co.uk/purpose-
and-passion-makes-profit/

21. Deepen Ties
Time will and can deepen our personal
relationships but these relationships can
reach a basin, a floor and no amount of time
will further dependence and understanding.
Every year we see that distance relative at
Christmas, every year the same small talk.
There is no wonder that the relationship is
not going anywhere. Yet, many of us have
experienced immediacy, that is an immediate
sense of trust. It is creating the right type of
moment that establishes the deepening of
ties.
As we pull on the rope from either end the
knot responds by getting tighter.

22. Responsiveness
According to Harry Reis, Professor of
Psychology the University of
Rochester, New York, is a leading light
in social psychology. His theory is that
‘responsiveness’ that is mutual
understanding, partner validation and
caring all deepen personal
relationships. How Stanton’s school
teachers did was to show
‘responsiveness’ by listening to what
the parents were hoping for their
children. In health care questions are
being switched from ‘what is the
matter?’ to ‘what matters to you?’
For those who have experienced that
call when you have to repeat your
complaint or problem endlessly – the
responsiveness approach is to
‘validate customers’ past experience’.
Responsiveness + Openness =
Intimacy
Art Aron and the 36 questions that
make it easy to fall in love –
interested?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb
/blog/open-gently/201310/36-
questions-bring-you-closer-together

23. Making Moments
Matter
Now we can appreciate the importance of
moments then we should be able to create more
of them. It is easy to see how a customer journey
can be peppered with moments, or how those
normal transitions in life can be heightened.
The Heath brothers challenge us to do this:
“Target a specific moment” and then ask “How
can I elevate it? Spark insight? Boost the sense of
connection?”
If we can stop trying to fix what cannot be fixed
then we can improve situations no end by
creating moments.
No matter what we have experienced lets
commit to doing it differently – moments “are
what make life meaningful. And they are ours to
create.” (Chip and Dan Heath, 2017)

24. Want to know more?
Chip and Dan Heath are
astounding authors, not only
do they write some great
books they provide their
readers with some great
tools.
Take a look at their website:
https://heathbrothers.com/
and get to know what more
they can offer.
Other titles that I have read:
Made to Stick
Switch
Decisive
All full of wisdom

25. About Relocon
We are entrepreneurial educators and we read a lot.
We don’t just have our heads in books we take what
we learn and make it happen. We bring knowledge
to life through action which we believe creates wise
entrepreneurs.
Reading is more than a one way street – to engage
in purposeful reading we reflect upon what we have
read, we think it through and physically record and
write down our thoughts. The Musings are just that,
our take on another persons insight we share with
you. Not to stop you reading the book but to give
you a flavour of it.
If you want to know more about Relocon and our
mission then please visit www.Relocon.co.uk

26. About James
Cracknell
James is a SFEDI accredited business advisor and a member of the
ISOEE. He has a BA in Leadership and Management, gained a post-
graduate certificate in systems thinking and is working towards a
Masters in the same subject. He has developed a number of
businesses, worked for blue-chip companies in travel and finance
and has experience of owning and running a franchise in
education. He believes all business should strive to do good.
His purpose is to create quality jobs, those that enrich the lives of
people, in NE Essex and Suffolk so that he can stem the daily
exodus from the region.
He is working to do this through a partnership business Relocon.
He is an entrepreneurial educator, passionate about the value of
mentoring and delivers a highly professional service that works to
stretch the mentee.
Visit www.Relocon.co.uk if you wish to know more.