Customer Experience For Dummies

Chapter 17

Initiatives, Projects, and Programs … Oh My!

In This Chapter

Looking at the initiative-launching addiction

Understanding how to prioritize initiatives

Taking the STRATEX approach

Here’s a riddle for you: One hot Monday morning, five frogs were sitting on a log that was floating in the middle of a pond. The frogs, who were close friends, were discussing the appeal of going for a swim in the cool, sparkling water. After much debate, four of the frogs decided to jump off and enjoy a swim. How many frogs were left on the log?

If you answered “one,” you’re not alone. Most people do. But the real answer is “five.” Why? Because in ponds, as in business, deciding to do something (like jumping off a log) and actually doing it are two entirely different things.

We’ve been part of all too many meetings where the conversation goes something like this:

• President of the company: Where are we on the XYZ project?
• Collective executive team: [silence]
• President of the company: Anyone?
• Brave executive team member: Uh, I don’t think we’ve done anything about the XYZ project.
• Exasperated president of the company: What?! We talked at length about this last month. We decided we were going ...