We spend about half our waking lives working. Let’s make that time a bit better, shall we? And let’s chat with desuckifiers who are out there making it happen, every day.
“This place is nuts. I’m outta here.”
That was the note from a freelancer at an agency I worked at a while back. We’d brought him in for a few weeks.
He lasted a few days.
The note stung. Because he was right.
We’d gotten used to the crazy because that’s what we do in this business. But man, it was refreshing to hear those unsullied words.
I’m not sure we ever fully fixed the crazy. But we did make the freelance onboarding process a bit less insane. And I don’t remember anyone else running away screaming after that.
So, a win overall.
Tom Vander Well has been hearing this kind of truth for more than 30 years.
He’s the guy listening when the recording says, “This call may be monitored.” That’s also the title of his book, btw. After more than 100,000 customer calls, he’s seen what happens when the story leaders tell themselves smashes into what employees and customers are actually experiencing.
Sometimes they use that truth to learn and get better.
Sometimes they threaten to fire anyone who shares even one pixel from the damning report.
Messed up, right? That’s the tension we dig into during this episode: most leaders say they want the truth. But what if the truth makes you look bad?
Tom and I talk about why the real story is usually the best story, how hiding from it hurts both your culture and your brand—and what it takes to create an organization capable of hearing what it needs to hear.
Yeah, the truth can sting.
But the b******t version is almost always more expensive.
Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work less chaotic, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.
(If you enjoy this one, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)
Let the desuckifying begin.
You can follow Tom on LinkedIn and learn more about his book and his speaking work at tomvanderwell.com.
If you’d like to make your agency 20% less crazy, let’s talk. Schedule a free half-hour Demuckify Session and we’ll identify one thing that will move the needle right now.
Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt.
Question to you from Tom:What company comes to mind when you think of a great customer experience?
Get full access to DesuckifyWork® at tjbennett.substack.com/subscribe
