https://www.polledemaagt.com/ Thoughts and tools on acts, not ads: strategy, meetings, hospitality and teams. en Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/benchmark-against-the-best/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/benchmark-against-the-best/ Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Your direct competitor can be average too. Benchmark against four references: your own work, a sister brand, the category leader and the best outside it. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ingvar-kamprad-took-the-bus/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ingvar-kamprad-took-the-bus/ Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections The richest man at the table went home by bus. A story told inside IKEA about saving inside so customers pay less. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ai-clears-my-head/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ai-clears-my-head/ Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections AI can fry my brain, but it also gives me moments of almost absurd clarity. Not because it thinks for me, but because there is less in the way of my own thinking. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/i-work-in-a-different-time-zone/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/i-work-in-a-different-time-zone/ Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections I start at three or four in the morning: a five-to-nine before the nine-to-five. Why I turned my day around, what it gives clients, and the boundaries it needs. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/trend-planning/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/trend-planning/ Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Trend planning turns a pile of weak signals into a decision about where to put attention, budget and people: five steps, a 2x2 and four horizons. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-best-speaker-gift-i-ever-got/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-best-speaker-gift-i-ever-got/ Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections The speaker gifts I remember were small acts of kindness: a handmade LEGO cap and a hedgehog made from rails. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/let-ai-do-the-chores/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/let-ai-do-the-chores/ Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT Principles Before you automate a task, ask whether the doing is part of the value. What I hand to agents, what I keep, and why the planning of a trip is not a chore. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-red-napkin/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-red-napkin/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A red napkin makes first-time guests visible, so every member of staff can give them a little extra attention. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/innocent-banana-phone/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/innocent-banana-phone/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Innocent’s public phone number rang on a banana-shaped telephone at Fruit Towers. How a playful object made accessibility tangible. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/van-zummeren-trophy/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/van-zummeren-trophy/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Rituals A family trophy that does not go to the winner, but to whoever made the game more fun. A ritual in memory of my grandfather. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/personalised-wine-tags/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/personalised-wine-tags/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A two-sided tag on a bottle of wine: one side a personal message, the other the story of why this bottle. A safe gift becomes a personal one. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/thoughtfulness-needs-a-system/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/thoughtfulness-needs-a-system/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Principles The best personal gestures happen because someone prepared for them. Five ways to make thoughtfulness repeatable for teams, without scripting it. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/beige-is-not-a-colour/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/beige-is-not-a-colour/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Dries Henau and Yuri Vandenbogaerde wrote that beige is not a colour. I walked into their book launch dressed in beige. Why distinctive brands start with choices, not design. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/keep-a-box-of-proof/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/keep-a-box-of-proof/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Rituals We keep lists of what still needs doing, but no evidence of what we have already done. Why I keep a box of proof, and what goes in it. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/dictionary-game/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/dictionary-game/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises A parlour game: everyone writes a fake definition for a word nobody knows, the others guess the real one. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ritz-carlton-joshie/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ritz-carlton-joshie/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Best practices The Ritz-Carlton returned a lost giraffe with a photo album of its holiday. Listen to the request behind the request. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/boyfriend-waiting-line/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/boyfriend-waiting-line/ Sun, 27 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A line on the floor next to a photo booth, for the person who came along. The cheapest piece of customer experience I have seen. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/prime-converge-rationalise/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/prime-converge-rationalise/ Sat, 15 Aug 2026 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Spot a trend before it shows up in reports: one image sticks, a second independent hit confirms it, and only then do you look for the drivers. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/good-questions/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/good-questions/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections One good question can lay bare the problem underneath, and with it the solution. Five questions I keep coming back to. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/colour-in-your-calendar/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/colour-in-your-calendar/ Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises You can be busy all week and still not be busy with the right things. Print last week's calendar, colour it in, count the hours and see where the heat is. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/design-your-ideal-week/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/design-your-ideal-week/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises Your calendar collects other people's requests. Design the week you would like to live, put it next to the week you have, and close one gap at a time. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-brain-fry-is-real/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-brain-fry-is-real/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Supervising AI agents is real work, and it drains you in a way ordinary task switching does not. What the fog did to me, and the four things I changed. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-not-to-do-list/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-not-to-do-list/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises A priority list can still be a list of everything, in a different order. Put a second list next to it: the things you will not do. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/you-still-have-to-know-things/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/you-still-have-to-know-things/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections AI gives us access to answers in fields we know little about. It does not give us the expertise to judge them. A plea for expertise. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ritz-carlton-2000-rule/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ritz-carlton-2000-rule/ Tue, 19 May 2026 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Every Ritz-Carlton employee could spend up to $2,000 per guest, per incident, without a manager's approval. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/amazon-bureaucracy-mailbox/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/amazon-bureaucracy-mailbox/ Sun, 15 Mar 2026 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Amazon gave employees a Bureaucracy Mailbox and the CEO promised to read it. Why the mechanism is promising, and why the loop after the mailbox matters more. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/38-degrees/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/38-degrees/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Everybody wants a 360° view of the customer. What customers want is closer to 38°: just enough to feel like a warm bath. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/beer-label/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/beer-label/ Mon, 06 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT Reflections A bottle put down with the label slightly off, then turned towards the guest. Why a small correction makes great service visible. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/walk-through-your-week/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/walk-through-your-week/ Fri, 15 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises A calendar lets you look at your week. You can also walk through it: tape the week on the floor, walk it, and feel where it is heavy. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/citizenm-guest-bingo/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/citizenm-guest-bingo/ Tue, 25 Jun 2024 08:00:00 GMT Best practices At a citizenM hotel, guest-facing ambassadors got a bingo card of small actions. How a card turns autonomy into something people practise. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/give-each-week-a-colour/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/give-each-week-a-colour/ Wed, 12 Jun 2024 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises One bad week is just a bad week. A run of them is a signal. Decide what a good week looks like, give each week green, amber or red, and read the row. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/lego-week-planner/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/lego-week-planner/ Tue, 07 May 2024 08:00:00 GMT Rituals A weekly planning ritual built with LEGO: a fixed grid for the week, and everyone builds, moves and replaces their own plan. The kids' idea. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/yes-day/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/yes-day/ Sat, 15 Apr 2023 08:00:00 GMT Rituals A kids’ day where Ella and Gust decide what we do, and we say yes. One rule keeps it in check: if it gets too over-the-top, there’s no YES-day next year. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ukrainian-railway-leader/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ukrainian-railway-leader/ Sat, 19 Nov 2022 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Interviewing Oleksandr Shevchenko of Ukrainian Railways in 2022: millions evacuated, bridges repaired in hours, and a gift I will not forget. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/rock-paper-scissors/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/rock-paper-scissors/ Sat, 15 Oct 2022 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises A familiar game turned into a cheering tournament: every loser joins the winner's supporters until two finalists remain. How to run it in 5 to 10 minutes. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/try-to-kill-us/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/try-to-kill-us/ Thu, 13 Oct 2022 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises Play a competitor trying to put your own company out of business, then turn the threats into action. A 45 to 60 minute exercise. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-squeak-system/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-squeak-system/ Thu, 11 Aug 2022 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Just start doing things, until someone starts to squeak. Why it works, where it goes wrong, and how to make it easy to squeak. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-jane/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-jane/ Sat, 08 Jan 2022 08:00:00 GMT Best practices How to give guests a personal, warm experience without relying on cold digital solutions. A paper list at The Jane in Antwerp. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/post-its/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/post-its/ Mon, 01 Jun 2020 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Peel a post-it upwards and it curls and falls off. Peel it sideways and it stays. A small thing that decides whether a workshop wall survives the day. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/netflix/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/netflix/ Wed, 27 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Most subscriptions profit from people forgetting to cancel. Netflix did the opposite, and bought trust in return. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/overview-insight-impact/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/overview-insight-impact/ Fri, 22 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Three steps for any problem: get the overview first, then the insight, and only then act. A model for teams that rush to action or drown in data. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/before-during-after/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/before-during-after/ Fri, 22 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Every meeting, event or experience has three moments. Most of us only plan the middle one. A simple model to plan all three. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/reflecting-on-meetings/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/reflecting-on-meetings/ Thu, 21 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Rituals The meeting is over, the learning isn't. A few minutes and three questions after a meeting, so the next one gets better. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/how-lobsters-grow/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/how-lobsters-grow/ Wed, 20 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Hard things are hard. Sometimes the discomfort means that the thing which used to fit no longer does. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/less-busy/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/less-busy/ Fri, 15 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Reflections AI helps us do more in less time. The better question is whether we can organise our work so we are less busy, and what not to fill the saved time with. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/kids-day-planning/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/kids-day-planning/ Tue, 12 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises A five-minute morning routine to plan the day together with your kids: name and date, weather, tasks, fun, then the hours. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/apple-system-status/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/apple-system-status/ Fri, 08 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Apple’s public System Status page shows per service whether it works, so customers do not have to guess during an outage. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/four-404-pages/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/four-404-pages/ Fri, 08 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Four error pages, from Mint.com to SUE, that turn a dead end into a moment of personality. Four short archive posts in one. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/experiment-outline/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/experiment-outline/ Sun, 03 May 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Four boxes to fill in before you run an experiment or a pilot: what you believe, what you will do, the two metrics that matter, and when you were right. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/remote-quarterly-review/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/remote-quarterly-review/ Sun, 19 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Rituals A few days away from office and home, spent working on your goals instead of everyone else's, in a location picked to protect deep work. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ice-harvesters/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ice-harvesters/ Sat, 18 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Ice harvesters answered the ice factory with better saws. Most organisations now use AI the same way. Why the next curve is a people question, not a tool. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-secret-ice-cream/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-secret-ice-cream/ Wed, 15 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises The secret ice cream: every speaker gets a secret word to work into their talk without the audience noticing. A five-minute exercise that wakes up a room. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/customer-story/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/customer-story/ Wed, 15 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises Start every meeting with one real customer. Five minutes that bring everyone into the room, and the customer to the table. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-wave/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-wave/ Wed, 15 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises A wave turns a room of spectators into one group in five minutes. How to invite it, practise it and run it with 50 people or more. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/presentation-gallery-walk/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/presentation-gallery-walk/ Wed, 15 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises Turn a slide deck into a room people can explore: print the slides, hang them in sequence and let people walk the story at their own pace. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/meeting-canvas/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/meeting-canvas/ Tue, 14 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Design a meeting or a workshop day on one canvas: name, purpose, outcomes, participants, materials, and an opening, core and closing. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/idea-speed-dating/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/idea-speed-dating/ Tue, 14 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises A quick way for a group to come up with many ideas and build on each other's: everyone starts with one idea, then moves one place each round. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-ice-cream-principle/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-ice-cream-principle/ Mon, 13 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Principles If you can't fix it with ice cream, you can't fix it at all. A made-up principle about what actually repairs trust. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/deciding-on-ice-cream/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/deciding-on-ice-cream/ Mon, 13 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Principles Ask ten people to agree on one flavour and you get vanilla. Why groups settle on what is easy to agree on, and what to do instead. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/whatever-whenever/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/whatever-whenever/ Sat, 04 Apr 2020 08:00:00 GMT Best practices W Hotels promises to try to get guests whatever they ask for, whenever they ask. Even a no can feel like service. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/on-being-late-for-meetings/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/on-being-late-for-meetings/ Fri, 27 Mar 2020 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Does being late for meetings matter? Why it is a habit, not bad luck, and three ways to make meetings start on time: add value, set the culture from the top, and plan 25 or 50 minutes. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/sasazu-first-time-visitors/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/sasazu-first-time-visitors/ Tue, 24 Mar 2020 08:00:00 GMT Best practices SaSaZu asks on the reservation form whether you have visited before, so the team can prepare. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/two-cookies/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/two-cookies/ Fri, 20 Mar 2020 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A waiter served three cookies with one cup of tea: one for each person at the table who would want one. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/cia-guide-to-sabotaging-companies/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/cia-guide-to-sabotaging-companies/ Tue, 04 Feb 2020 08:00:00 GMT Reflections A 1944 manual taught ordinary people to sabotage organisations with extra meetings, forms and questions. Why it still looks like a normal workday, and how to reverse it. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/lego-hard-times-help-you-focus/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/lego-hard-times-help-you-focus/ Tue, 04 Feb 2020 08:00:00 GMT Reflections How a workshop fire in 1960 made LEGO stop postponing the LEGO System in Play, and why a setback can be the moment to finally focus on the idea you keep putting off. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/i-almost-died/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/i-almost-died/ Sat, 28 Dec 2019 08:00:00 GMT Reflections The story of what happened and what it taught me: my lessons from a hospital bed. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/nine-things-on-your-mind/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/nine-things-on-your-mind/ Thu, 05 Dec 2019 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Structures & exercises Draw nine boxes and write down what is on your mind, no more than nine things. A ten-minute exercise for yourself or a team. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/secret-compliment-mole/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/secret-compliment-mole/ Mon, 25 Feb 2019 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A classroom game where one secret player gives compliments, and the others start doing the same. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/booking-recruits-through-source-code/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/booking-recruits-through-source-code/ Thu, 07 Feb 2019 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Booking.com hid a job invitation in the source code of its website, where only curious developers would find it. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/vanmoof-tv-box/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/vanmoof-tv-box/ Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:00:00 GMT Best practices VanMoof printed a flat-screen TV on its bike boxes, so couriers would handle them with more care. Damage dropped by 80 percent. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/on-thinking-less/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/on-thinking-less/ Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:00:00 GMT Reflections My father’s rule for not forgetting things, why business thinks too much and builds too few habits, and how coach Tony Dungy won by making his players think less. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-ceo-phone-number/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-ceo-phone-number/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Kimpton once gave its most loyal guests direct access to the CEO and executive team through an unpublished phone line. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-raid-the-bar/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-raid-the-bar/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Kimpton turned a small bar credit into a memorable hospitality moment by giving it a name that felt like permission. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-secret-password/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-secret-password/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Kimpton shares a secret password on social media. Guests who say it at check-in get a small surprise. Why being in the know beats a discount. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-social-hour/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/kimpton-social-hour/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Kimpton’s Social Hour brings guests together for complimentary drinks in the early evening. How a fixed time, a host and a story turn a perk into a ritual. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/citizenm-first-guest-free-coffee/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/citizenm-first-guest-free-coffee/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A night host at citizenM gave the first guest of the day a free coffee, and told him why. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/disney-toys/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/disney-toys/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Housekeeping arranges the children’s toys while the family is out, as if the toys came to life during the day. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ceo-customer-service/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ceo-customer-service/ Sun, 05 Mar 2017 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A CEO who spends a fixed hour every week calling customers. What it did for SlideShare, and how to start. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/your-umbrella-not-the-company-umbrella/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/your-umbrella-not-the-company-umbrella/ Thu, 16 Feb 2017 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Staff offer their own umbrella and the company replaces it: personal help, paid for by the company. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/un-training-staff/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/un-training-staff/ Mon, 06 Feb 2017 08:00:00 GMT Reflections What happens when you ask a waiter to choose your meal. Restaurant staff are trained not to think for themselves, and a simple question shows how to let them be human again. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/change-the-default/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/change-the-default/ Wed, 03 Aug 2016 08:00:00 GMT Reflections When the easy option keeps winning over the one you value, change the default before you have to choose. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/95-percent-right-100-percent-wrong/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/95-percent-right-100-percent-wrong/ Mon, 04 Jul 2016 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Personalisation fails when a system knows the account but misreads the situation. Ask instead of guessing. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/personalisation-will-get-worse/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/personalisation-will-get-worse/ Mon, 04 Jul 2016 08:00:00 GMT Reflections A hotel asked how my stay was going before I had checked in. Why a personal message is a bigger promise, and what to check before you make one. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-interface-trains-you-back/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-interface-trains-you-back/ Thu, 17 Mar 2016 08:00:00 GMT Reflections What an interface rewards changes how you behave next time. While you learn the interface, it trains you back. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/six-pack-for-the-kitchen/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/six-pack-for-the-kitchen/ Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A restaurant menu item that lets diners buy a six-pack for the kitchen staff they never see. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ripples-not-trends/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/ripples-not-trends/ Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:00:00 GMT Reflections A ripple is a small movement worth testing before it is a trend. Why I started Movements. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-speedboat-approach/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/the-speedboat-approach/ Wed, 13 Jun 2012 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks The speedboat approach: seven steps to turn a slow change programme, an oil tanker, into small, fast speedboats. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/drew/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/drew/ Wed, 13 Jun 2012 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A flight attendant who learns passengers' first names turns a routine flight into one you remember. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-suitcase-principle/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/the-suitcase-principle/ Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:00:00 GMT Principles No surprise makes up for a missing suitcase. Fix what annoys your customers before you do what they will like. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/scripted-authenticity/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/scripted-authenticity/ Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:00:00 GMT Reflections A café manager made his staff give away three drinks per shift. Why I still like that rule, and why I no longer think the rule is the destination. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/colruyt-fewer-lines-less-paint/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/colruyt-fewer-lines-less-paint/ Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Colruyt marked its parking spaces with two or three lines instead of four. A small choice in the car park that makes a cost-conscious promise visible. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/securing-your-virtual-will/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/securing-your-virtual-will/ Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT Reflections What happens to your accounts when you die? A 2012 piece, updated in 2026: leave more than a password, share deliberately, and leave instructions. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/automagic/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/automagic/ Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Nine automatic mails that turn a receipt, an unsubscribe or a slow inbox into a small act. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/zappos-365-day-return-policy/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/zappos-365-day-return-policy/ Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Zappos gave customers a full year to return their shoes. Why a reversible decision makes people order more, and what to measure. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/most-important-two-percent/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/most-important-two-percent/ Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:00:00 GMT Best practices About 2% of your customers will try to cheat you. Zappos, a Gent terrace and the self-scan show what happens when you write the rules for the other 98%. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/random-acts-of-kindness/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/random-acts-of-kindness/ Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Random acts of kindness are selfless by definition. Why turning them into a campaign or a viral stunt misses the point, and what brands should do instead. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/managing-rising-customer-expectations/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/managing-rising-customer-expectations/ Fri, 03 Jun 2011 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Every great experience raises the bar, also for your industry. From replies within a day to AI bots that answer instantly and help one in ten: how expectations move. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/change-management-toolkit/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/change-management-toolkit/ Tue, 10 May 2011 08:00:00 GMT Reflections A strategy is finished when people and the organisation work differently. The story first, then four levers: learn it, try it, spread it, frame it. Also for AI. https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/managing-expectations/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/tools/managing-expectations/ Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:00:00 GMT Tool: Models & frameworks Under-deliver and people complain. Deliver and nobody talks. Over-deliver and they share it. Go over the top and it turns. A model for the extra that works. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/acts-not-ads/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/acts-not-ads/ Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:00:00 GMT Reflections People and companies are defined by what they do, not by what they say. Where the idea came from in 2010, and how I use it now. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/zappos-lets-wow-this-person/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/zappos-lets-wow-this-person/ Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:00:00 GMT Best practices One line in a Zappos internal email turned a customer question into an invitation to wow. Why internal language shapes service. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/nike-ekins/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/nike-ekins/ Sun, 14 Nov 2010 08:00:00 GMT Best practices Nike's Ekins bring the brand's stories and sports technology to life. Why the tattoo is not the culture, but a visible expression of it. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/johnny-the-bagger/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/johnny-the-bagger/ Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:00:00 GMT Best practices A grocery bagger put a thought for the day in every customer’s bag. His line soon ran the length of the store. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/what-teachers-make/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/what-teachers-make/ Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Taylor Mali's What Teachers Make, and the bold goal behind it: a thousand new teachers. He pulled it off. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/doings-instead-of-meetings/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/doings-instead-of-meetings/ Sun, 09 Apr 2006 08:00:00 GMT Reflections A meeting is something you attend. A doing is something you leave with. Start with what will exist after you get together. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/one-nil-up/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/one-nil-up/ Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Most people prepare what they want to say. Few prepare for the person who has to hear it. A beer mat, three questions, and what AI can and cannot do for you. https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/meeting-techniques/ https://www.polledemaagt.com/thinking/meeting-techniques/ Tue, 17 Jan 2006 08:00:00 GMT Reflections Eight rules for running a meeting, written in 2006 and still my sanity check for every meeting. Plus what I would add now.