“Good ideas are always crazy. Until they’re not.”* Starting a new Series on “Disruption” for 2022

Will “Disruption” Forever Define The ‘20’s we are now in? 

Time will tell for certain but it’s transforming the world for now. 

And Elon Musk’s statement above just about describes where we are right now with the plethora of “good ideas” rollin’ around all over the place.   

And all these good ideas are causing “disruptions” today in virtually every industry that they touch on the planet. 

The Customer Experience business is no different. 

It didn’t used to be this way, remember? Businesses and processes would just naturally “evolve” over time and then we would adjust. 

No more.  

In my new book, The New Customer Disruption Economy, I go over several key elements which are “disrupting” the Customer Experience of today and changing the way companies are designing the “experience” for Customers in the future.  

First, the office and world of work has been turned upside down as the “great return”, the “great hesitation” or the “great whatever-comes-next" impacts Employees almost daily.  

The purpose of the office has changed, says researcher Owlabs in a recent study as the “social experience” (versus just filling out paperwork) begins to be more important. Relatedly, 71 % of employees said they now felt “more included” than ever before by working in the office.   

Next, the new Metaverse is about reimagining practically everything and research company Holonext terms it the “next evolution” of the world wide web. And the A.I. economy that powers it is estimated to be some $ 17 Trillion ( that’s Trillion with a “T” ) by 2023 – just one short year from now – and is the main driver of the Virtual and Augmented Realities making up the Metaverse. 

Finally, digital finance will change everyday life as we know it as digital currencies like Bitcoin start to become “legal tender”. And the currency passed a $ Trillion market cap in 2020.  

Finally, researcher techjury says 97 % of people surveyed recently have “confidence” in crypto currencies. 

So, what does all this mean right now? And what does it portend for the Customer Experience business? 

As I usually do about now, I want to offer some Business Tips to help you take action on the conversation I’ve presented above.  

Business Tip # 1. Quickly identify the major “disruptors” in your business today – both existing and likely to appear in the not-too-distant future - whatever they might be. And they may be the result of those “crazy good ideas” Elon Musk mentioned at the start of this article. 

Whether or not they are related to the changing office environment or simply a new technology that’s suddenly taken over things, they need to be identified and followed lest they have the transformative results discussed above. 

Tip # 2. Develop a “strategy plan” for embracing those disruptors and turning them into benefits for your business. 

For example, companies must develop their own “hybrid work plans” now to offer returning employees the options that they demand. And the same is true of digital currency plays as they become more “mainstream” and, potentially accepting payment from vendors in say a Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency. 

Over the next few months, we’ll hone in other “disruptors” that are changing the face of business and in turn the customer experience. 

So, for example, my next article in the series will explore the role of “human emotions” in designing engaging Customer experiences for the future. 

Stay tuned. 

So until sit around the table once more to kick around some more crazy ideas, I’ll see you next time. 

And oh, Happy New Year! 

Ciao. 

*Elon Musk, 2021