Smart and Stupid Companies

When it comes to consumer experiences, there is much stupidity but sometimes smartness within the corporate world. I have personally sat in meetings during my career where, for all the right desire to do the right thing by the consumer, the solution is designed to do the right thing to the bottom line (interestingly, only short term clearly, since doing the right thing to the consumer will drive bottom line improvement).

David Williams, a colleague of mine, talks about what makes smart and stupid companies within the world of Consumer Services. He writes about why they do what they do, and comes to a similar conclusion. David argues that having empowered employees to do the right thing, or even the unexpectedly delightful thing, is a pre-requisite. I would agree, but build on that to say that the right attitude must be present in the individual to want to go that extra mile for the consumer, empowered or not. The attitude comes from that individual and is reinforced by the organisational culture.

Have a look at David's article. Appreciate your thoughts.