The Power of Moments

“The Power of Moments”
by Chip & Dan Heath
2017, Simon & Schuster
$29/$39 Canada
307 pages

It was quite the event. Your staff really outdid themselves, and you were proud of them. Everybody pitched in, clients were overjoyed and there wasn’t one attendee who didn’t leave without a smile and a promise to come back next year. In “The Power of Moments” by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, you’ll see how to make your event even better.

Think back to all the biggest, best memories of your life: that milestone birthday party. Your first kiss. The day you got married. You can remember those things like they happened this morning. So how do you make those kinds of impressions with your business? The answer lies in making memories, or “defining moments,” as the authors call them. Those are moments that truly stick out, the lagniappes that make you rave about a hotel, the reasons you love your banker, why you shop where you shop.

Many people think that those most memorable moments “just happen” but Heath & Heath say that manufactured ones can be equally defining as long as they have one of these four elements: Pride that occurs when we are at our best; connection that is completely social; insight that changes perception; or elevation when something is memorably delightful. “Once you realize how important moments can be,” say the authors, “it’s easy to spot opportunities to shape them.”   

How can your business do that in this ad-saturated season?  “The Power of Moments” tells you, but first, the authors will get you thinking about your own memorable moments in business, leisure and socially. Remembering them—and reading the anecdotes that Heath & Heath hold up as examples—leads to seeing why those events left an imprint in our minds and how they might be re-created with a business focus.