A Career-Changing Business Quote - 10 Years Later

“Forecasters who extrapolate from today inevitably get tomorrow wrong…(but) by pitting multiple scenarios of the future against one another and leaving many different doors open, you can prepare yourself for a future that is inherently unpredictable. Brainstorming pays off. And the more possibilities you can entertain, the less likely you are to be blindsided.” - Peter Coy and Neil Gross, Business Week, August 30, 1999

I use this quote often in presentations because it has so dramatically shaped my thinking. It's at the heart of the philosophies, disciplines, and tools I've sought to learn, compile, and develop in the past 10 years.

And when nothing is getting more certain, there's even greater value in bringing smart, multi-disciplined people together to expand your view of the future, work through possibilities, and act on them.

Ideally, you're finding that's what Brainzooming is all about. - Mike Brown

Brainzenning - Looking Out My Back Door

Remember the Renegades - Guest Post by Paula White

It's become clear over time that my strategic mentors tend to be visionaries who are actively pushing boundaries and seeing beyond what others anticipate. I match up well with these personalities because they stretch me also, and I help translate their visions into implementable steps necessary to realize new and big ideas.

So in keeping with the focus so far this week on Bill McDonald and Kansas City Infobank, Paula White's guest column on renegades is right on the mark. As Paula describes herself on her blog, she's a "grandma, an educator, a teacher, and a thinker." She has numerous educational distinctions, and she's on the forefront of actually applying social media in an educational setting (quick partial translation: I met her on Twitter!).

In today's guest post, she shares her experience in encouraging students that it's okay to think boldly and unusually because that thinking leads to great new things:


Think about people you know who have been considered renegades. WHY were they considered that? Did they do something different? Did they do something no one else would? Did they do something unexpected or unusual? Were they just out of the mainstream?

As a gifted resource teacher, I often see students who think there is something wrong with them because they ARE different. They recognize that they have thoughts others don’t—that they think more deeply about common things and that they look at the world differently than their peers. I sometimes have to work to help students accept who they are because they, too, are often out of the mainstream. They think differently, learn differently and may even try to lead or teach differently. That doesn’t mean that they are better or worse than others. They are just different. And all of us have to, at some point in our lives, learn to respect and honor differences to co-exist on this planet.

One way I begin the conversation with students is to show a film Apple produced in the 90s, called "Think Different."

Misfits. . . rebels. . . troublemakers. . . and you can’t ignore them, because they push the human race forward. Students identify with these traits and by looking at the creative geniuses Apple chose to highlight, they begin to understand that learning differently, thinking differently, acting differently is okay.

Rebels, renegades, thinkers, doers, pushers, sometimes troublemakers. . . Does that describe anyone you know? Have you ever thought about how lonely that path might be?

Remember the renegades. . . and be their friend. Their creativity, their thinking, their pushing the envelope just may change the world. - Paula White

Lessons from Kansas City Infobank - Negotiating Deadlines

Unreasonable time expectations or well-intentioned but unachievable deadlines are a fact of business life. As a two-person operation at Kansas City Infobank, we constantly battled the swings between trying to sell projects and then having too many to be able to meet every deadline we faced. This imbalance created the need to strategically negotiate project timing expectations with clients.

I learned you’ll always have a better shot at successfully negotiating more advantageous deadlines if you present value trade-offs that go beyond simply asking for more time. Instead, talk about what more you can deliver with more time.

Step one is figuring out what you can deliver within the initial time expectation:

• How complete can you be?
• Are there critical elements you won't get completed?
• What impact might this gap have on the project outcome or business relationship?

Just as importantly though, understand and communicate other valuable elements you could deliver with an extended timeframe. Among the possibilities:

• Greater completeness
• Clearer organization of the information
• Greater detail
• Better summarization
• Deeper insights

Your client may still need to stick with the original deadline, but presenting a valuable alternative creates a much better likelihood of successfully negotiating for more time. - Mike Brown

Lessons from Kansas City Infobank - Secondary Research Techniques

Secondary research was the primary approach at Kansas City Infobank for completing projects. We informally defined secondary research as "finding what you're looking for among answers to questions that had already been asked and answered by others."

Secondary research was ideal for me since it was similar to school (which I always enjoyed) and required a strategic, problem-solving approach that's been valuable not only in business, but in many other situations. There are several keys to secondary research effectiveness including strong skills in anticipation, visualization, detecting clues, and making sound assumptions. Here are some principles Bill McDonald taught for doing it that I still use all the time:

1. Start by anticipating what your ultimate answer will be. Approximate the answer and its form: If it's a prediction, what's it likely to be? If it's a recap of something, how extensive will it be? Approximating what you're looking for helps you know when you've found the answer and aids directly in step 2.
   
2. Anticipate what components that could make up the answer will look like and where they might be found. Rarely do you find the exact answer; instead, you need to piece it together as you would a puzzle. Start by thinking through what the "puzzle pieces" look like: quotes, number, expert names, trend information, news, etc., then map out where the pieces will likely be located.


3. Armed with hypotheses on the answer and its pieces, begin quickly searching and scanning information sources. Having imagined the information upfront allows you to get through a search more quickly, i.e. if you need numbers to develop a forecast, it's easy to look at articles online and see right away if numbers are included. The key is grabbing as much information as appears relevant early on and leaving heavy analysis for later.
   
4. When you've captured these first sources, review them for more clues on where other information may reside. Are there sources or experts mentioned you haven't explored but need to? Where are they located and how can you get to them?
   
5. While scanning sources, start piecing the answer together. Ideally, you should be able to begin constructing the answer in parts, even if it doesn't look like the final form. Doing this effectively means making sound assumptions to start filling in the answer. This is where your initial hypotheses come in handy as a springboard for constructing the answer and providing a check on how the pieces are fitting together.

There's certainly more to be written about secondary research techniques, but these five tips will help you be more successful whenever you have to find out an answer online or in printed material. - Mike Brown

Lessons from Kansas City Infobank - Get on the Phone

I’ve done several posts on strategic mentors who've fundamentally shaped my thinking and approach. In an early one, I mentioned multiple posts could be filled with lessons learned from Bill McDonald when I worked for him at Kansas City Infobank. The next few days will feature several great lessons I'm sure you’ll benefit from as much as I have.

Get on the Phone and Ask Your Question

Bill had an amazing ability to phone total strangers, chat with them, and prompt them to share incredible information through asking questions. Listening to these calls made a strong impression on me about the value of directly asking great questions of knowledgeable people. I've never matched Bill's skills, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the gift he has for conversation and questioning.

Today, however, since it’s so easy to email someone a question – type a few lines, hit send, and wait for a reply - fewer people seem to phone directly when they need information or something resolved.

But just because you sent an email doesn’t mean you really asked a question. That implies the recipient actually read the question, and is in a position to adequately respond without ongoing dialogue.

Despite the apparent ease of email, it's often a much better alternative to pick up the phone and call. If you can talk live, you’ll at least know they received the question, find out if your question prompts questions for them, clarify any confusion, and engage in a dialogue that could provide a much richer understanding.

So put down the Blackberry or push away from the keyboard and call with your question! - Mike Brown

Brainzenning - Early Morning Flight

Radio, Radio - Brainzooming on Hot Talk 1510, Friday, August 21

I'm substitute hosting again for Kelly Scanlon on her Hot Talk 1510 AM "Eye on Small Business" radio show at 9 a.m. CDT Friday, August 21. The topic is "7 Ways to Better Understand Your Customers," and the guest is long-time friend and colleague Barb Murphy, President of Strategic Spark.

We'll discuss ways that small business owners can use both primary and secondary research to identify the changes taking place within their customer bases during these challenging economic times.

You can listen live on the internet, and if you want to tweet a question, use hashtag #kcsmallbiz. I'll try to monitor any questions and incorporate them into the program.

BTW - Barb will also be doing an opening day seminar at the American Marketing Association Market Research conference October 4 - 7, 2009.

I'm chairing the conference, and it's a great opportunity for those involved in the research field to develop professionally, expand your knowledge of new research techniques, and get set for the future.

Register by September 4 to get the early bird rate. And follow the conference on http://twitter.com/amamrc for market research updates from across the web!

Add the Main Ingredient - Guest Post by Kai Rostcheck

Today's guest post is from Kai Rostcheck, an Idea Guy who problem solves and discovers opportunities for small businesses that believe in the triple bottom line of economic benefit, social impact, and environmental sustainability. Kai has an "Idea of the Day" that you can sign up for at his website: http://www.kairostchek.com.

In this post, he shares his perspective on the criticality of developing a business, revenue, and profit model that works:


A company I know in Boston is close to closing its doors. This is disappointing, because it’s a truly unique venture that captures the remarkable stories hidden inside of every day people; things you’d usually miss if there weren’t someone clever enough to go looking and tell you what’s really there.

We’re trying to find a revenue model that will allow them to shift gears and have come up with some great short-term ideas. But their long-term viability is still a question mark. Unfortunately, this occurs all the time. People with great convictions start businesses and invest lots of time and money before figuring out how to make a profit.

I heard the same kind of story from another consultant friend recently. After that, I met a young entrepreneur at a Web Innovator’s conference who is struggling to find funding, and still needs to figure out her revenue model.

It’s happening all over the place.

Personally, I work for more than the bottom line and encourage all companies to consider social impact and environmental responsibility as part of their core strategies. But the reality is that we can’t stay in business for long if we’re not profitable. It’s not ok just to build it in the hope that customers will come, unless you are just playing around with a concept and don’t feel attached to a successful outcome.

You wouldn’t make roast beef without the roast. You don’t make pancakes without eggs. You can’t wash your car without water (well, I suppose you can at a waterless carwash. There’s always an exception). If you are an entrepreneur, you can’t succeed without a viable and flexible revenue strategy. No marketing program can make up for this fundamental truth.

One of the instructors at Boston University’s graduate entrepreneurship course requires his students to submit business plans with two alternative business models, to prepare them for the reality their core focus could fail or get pushed back. This is the equivalent of a well-stocked kitchen that allows you to improvise and adapt in case you run out of something.

We are entering the age of lean, when young, flexible companies are driving innovation. That’s a good thing. If you count yourself among that crowd, just be sure to stock the cabinets with your main ingredients before you start cooking up your next business idea. Those ingredients must include a solid financial plan and a great network.

In my area, there are lots of support groups offering free consultations. The folks from DartBoston are a good example. I know of others that focus on social entrepreneurship, pre-VC stage strategy, etc. I bet there are some in your area too. My advice is to look around and see who’s willing to give you advice before you get in too deep. Good luck! - Kai Rostcheck

Thinking at Unexpected Times

Sometimes, try as you might, it's impossible to focus on the task at hand. When you can't focus, one alternative is to accept the mental roadblock and actively look for another time (perhaps an unconventional one) where you can shift the activity and your creative energy.

At dinner recently, we had a very specific business topic (that had been hanging for a while) we were supposed to address. With little opportunity to prepare that day, I offered an idea intended to fit within the various strategic constraints we faced. While it sort of worked amid the constraints, I woke up that night realizing it wouldn't work in practice for a whole variety of reasons.

Next morning, I alerted the person looking for input that more work needed to be done. Yet, I still didn't have any better alternatives.

Lo and behold, enduring a flight delay one day later when the pressure to "think" about this specific issue wasn't top of mind, a very innovative solution came to me in about 5 minutes.

Why hadn't I been able to come up with a creative answer at dinner two nights earlier? I have no idea.

But I do know at times our mental capabilities aren't up to the specific demands we might need to place on them. Much of what's on Brainzooming is intended to help you function more innovatively in these situations. These techniques aren't always going to work though.

For these other instances when your brain isn't zooming, often the best thing you can do is manage time expectations and pray for creative inspiration to hit you ASAP, or at least when you least expect it. - Mike Brown

Careful What You Write and Who Reads It

I had a disastrous presentation last week. The webex was ready and working when right before the presentation was to begin, the computer completely froze. Next steps involved restarting by yanking the laptop battery, yanking my other laptop from its docking station, and trying to get one of three computers back on the webex. We ultimately had to email a file to all participants, delivering an originally designed interactive presentation on using Twitter from a 4-to-a-slide pdf, after a 20 minute late start.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Venting my frustration that evening, my niece, who signed up for Brainzooming via email last year, reminded me of the recent column about envisioning potential problems and being ready to wing it.

Great point Valerie! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The presentation failure scenarios I had imagined focused on webex problems, so I got there early to ensure people could see the computer desktop on the webex. What I hadn't anticipated was the computer freezing. While there was a nearly-current version of the presentation on a USB drive, anticipating the computer failing would have led to sending the presentation upfront with another computer ready to go.

Under stress, there wasn't time for problem diagnosis; the only alternative was implementing multiple potential solutions. Not until afterward did the problem's source occur to me: the LCD projector had a long ago history of jamming computers with USB-based clickers. The problem hadn't occurred in years, and I'd forgotten about it.

So let me amend the first bullet in the previous post's advice:

• Invest a little effort ahead of time imagining what complete system failure scenarios could develop. Really go for it - if Armageddon were taking place before a presentation, could you still get things up and running on time? And what's the backup to the alternative?

There, that feels better. Maybe I'll be better prepared next time. - Mike Brown

1 Step to Make Yourself More Invaluable

Want to be more critical to your business in one easy step? Here it is:

1. Create recommendations instead of reporting problems.

It's that simple.

You can stand so far away from the crowd by simply not bothering your boss and co-workers with long descriptions of what you perceive to be broken, failing, aggravating, or insufferable in your workplace.

Instead, create some well thought out, innovative options to address the issue at hand. Deliver your recommendation, sans the soap opera, to your boss.

It's a little harder than it sounds, but it's well worth the effort to become the person your boss will turn to for creative answers in challenging times. - Mike Brown

Brainzenning - Cuyahoga Falls

This is the view outside the hotel in the "Predictable" post about consistent service experiences.

Tapping the Gold Mine of Creativity & Individuality in Your Organization - Guest Post by Marissa Levin

This week's guest post is by Marissa Levin, an award-winning and well-recognized entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of Information Experts. The company creates technology-based integrated communications solutions, human capital strategies, and learning strategies for government agencies and firms in a wide range of vertical markets.

Marissa shares her perspectives here on tapping the incredible creative and innovative talents existing among the diverse group of people inside her company:


How well do you really know your co-workers and employees?

Sure, you see them on a daily basis and know just enough about their personal lives to be dangerous. You may even know what they like for lunch. There's probably a "comfort level" you've established. You've identified some personal boundaries, designating topics acceptable for discussion and those off the table.

But have you ever stopped to consider what defines your co-workers outside their jobs? More importantly, have you ever thought about how these aspects influence our jobs, and what they add to the workplace?

As a CEO focused on company culture, I'm always thinking of ways to maintain a connection with my employees and protect the valuable connections among everyone working here. As organizations grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve this. Employees become more scattered (thanks to telecommuting), are assigned to client sites, and work amid additional layers that develop to ensure adequate management structure.

Adding to these challenges, I am out of the office for appointments, meetings, and networking events. Despite email exchanges and conference calls, it is far too easy to lose the human touch. When I am working "on" the business, it is often difficult to work "in" the business.

I've always known we have incredibly creative, passionate, intelligent, and highly individualized people. We are not a typical organization. We have many out-of-the-box thinkers who display individuality throughout their lives. This uniqueness gives us an edge with our culture and customers.

To find a way to understand and bring all this creativity into the company, I surveyed our employees about what defines them outside work. The results were unbelievable.

Beyond having top-quality instructional designers, project managers, strategists, writers, graphic designers, developers, & human capital experts, we also have scuba divers, college-level volleyball players, swing and belly dancers, scrabble professionals, marathoners, environmentalists, a competitive U.S. Master's swimmer, competitive soccer players, classical pianists, wine enthusiasts, equestrian experts, poker players, gardeners, and chefs.

That's not all - our staff also includes:

• A certified "High Power Rocketeer" who has launched rockets to 6,000 feet at 550mph
• Someone who taught welding at a vocational school
• A four-time Outward Bound participant
• A Special Operations Sergeant whose unit's experience was the basis for "Blackhawk Down"
• A two-time patent holder for educational technology who served on Barrack Obama's Education Policy Committee
• A published physique photographer and bodybuilder known at WOLVERINE

Think about the creative & innovative power of that incredible diversity of skills, interests, and passions. The question now is how to integrate these interests and skills into the company. I hope to celebrate their individuality in some sort of event or create an internal online tool that brings people together based on their interests.

Here's your question: What creativity & individuality is beneath the surface inside your company? Ask around, and you may be in for some surprises of your own! - Marissa Levin

So You Wanna Write Something? Become a Brainzooming Guest Author

One objective emerging for the Brainzooming blog is to create a place for cool creative and strategic thinkers to share perspectives. It's always great to have new and different voices on Brainzooming, and it's very humbling to see the number of great guest authors regularly grow!

If you're interested in writing a guest blog, let me know your subject idea via email at mike@mikebrownspeaks.com. Be sure to include "Brainzooming Guest Blog" in the subject line.

Writing & Publishing Overview

As you think about a topic and approach, here's background info I use for doing Brainzooming:

• The broad topic areas for Brainzooming include innovation, strategic thinking, and creativity. Anything within and around those areas that isn't a commercial is potential fair game for an article.


• Articles are typically 300 - 500 words. Please include links to other relevant sources of interest to readers. Similarly, include image ideas that will help convey the article's message.


• The material should be new content or, at minimum, a new variation (updated, freshened, modified) on something you've personally written and published previously.


• You can forward your article in Word or the body of an email. Also include a brief bio.


• I edit the article so its style fits with the blog and includes links to related topics. Should there be a need for significant editing, you'll receive a copy in advance to ensure you're okay with the changes.


• Guest articles typically run Thursdays. Since there's generally a queue of future guest articles, there's no particular deadline. I'm usually able to give you a sense ahead of time about what future Thursday your article will run.


• You'll get a link to your guest post early on the Thursday it publishes to share with your network on Twitter, your blog, via email, etc.

Please consider sharing your expert perspective and joining the Brainzooming creative team! - Mike Brown

It's Okay Not To

Face it: there are a bunch of expectations placed on each of us that, quite frankly, are completely arbitrary.

Oh sure, someone (maybe even someone very important) thinks they're absolutes. Yet relative to what's really important (i.e., strategic), there's more whimsy than criticality in the request.

What can you do when presented with tasks, duties, or expectations that fall into this category?

• Ask the fundamental question: "What are we trying to achieve?" Invite the other party to participate in answering it to develop a more refined sense of what's strategic.


• Suggest more innovative or workable alternatives that still deliver on what you are trying to achieve.


• Be prepared to creatively negotiate and develop a mutually-agreeable approach.


• Don't discount that doing nothing could be the best answer for whoever is requesting you do something that doesn't really matter.

Give this approach a try to better expend your efforts on things that will legitimately make a difference. - Mike Brown

I'm Mike Brown - Niche Market

I was followed recently on Twitter by @FollowMikeBrown who is carving out "a place to follow all the Mike Browns in the World."

Talk about a focused niche.

Based on the website How Many of Me, there are 32,000 Mike and Michael Browns in the US, with another 1,050 Miguel Brown/Morenos, and 4,000 Michelle Browns. The day he followed me, there were more than 250 Mike Brown's on the list. I'm not sure if any prizes are involved, but I'm definitely intrigued by how things will progress.

So here's a question: How many focused niches can you strategically subdivide your business into successfully & cost-effectively? And can you start an innovative community for your niche that feels as personalized and comfortable as @FollowMikeBrown does for me? - Mike Brown

Brainzenning - Spinners in Brookside

Give Your Workspace a Massive Creative Boost - Guest Post from Andrew Tilling

We have another international guest post this week. Andrew Tilling, from Surrey, UK, is a consultant specialising in creative thinking techniques, team dynamics and leadership. He heads Preseli Partnerships Ltd. which provides providing training, coaching and consultancy to help organisations make a difference.

Andrew is also a founding partner in The Nutshell Project, recognizing the value to be found in personal professional development time away from the demands of the day to day. Based on connecting on Twitter and visiting Andrew's blog, I asked him to share his perspective on the importance of place on creativity:


I have the luckiest job in the world. I am given the freedom to work with people to help them find new ideas, develop those ideas, and get on and make a change in their world. Plus, I get to do this in some beautiful places. It strikes me how much more creative people can be with a change of environment.

And as tempting as it is to write a detailed report on why all businesses should send employees to areas of outstanding natural beauty in order to boost creativity, it's more beneficial to explore what we can do to our own environment to help become more productive – and especially more creative.

The unconscious mind is our creative powerhouse. To help it along we need to understand it's capable of processing a lot more than our conscious mind. A natural, stimulating environment adds fuel to the creative fire. We are fortunate that simple objects can remind us of those environments. Objects help our unconscious access old memories in incredible detail, allowing us to draw on new connections and shifting our state into a more resourceful one.

Here are a few things you can add to your workspace to help you become more creative.

• Have something natural – Innovators constantly draw on nature for ideas. We are part of nature and only our artificial environments disconnect us from that. Office policy or not on potted plants, you'll want something that grows (or at least grew) in nature to allow you to reconnect.
  
• Make time work for you– Have a stop watch or countdown clock you can set for 10 minute bursts of concentration or bookmark a site with a countdown-clock.
  
• Something from somewhere special – Remember a time when you felt free from the pressures of daily life? I have a notebook used while travelling that's never far from my desk. It helps unlock creative potential just thinking about it.
  
• A picture of a creative genius – We all need a circle of inspiration – alive or dead. Find a picture of someone whose work blows you away. Learn about and talk with them often (in your head, of course, or people will think you are nuts).
  
• A picture of a business genius – Someone else for your circle of inspiration. If you can keep in mind the demands of the market place while being creative, you have more chance of your ideas becoming a genuine innovation.
  
• Blank paper and 4 color pen – These 'click' pens are awesome for mind-mapping. Shut your laptop lid and find somewhere comfy to sit and doodle.
  
• Composition & presentation space – Recognize that finding and presenting an idea are two very different mindsets. Make different spaces for different kinds of work. Even if you can't move from your desk, you change your space internally through listening to different music styles.
  
• Water – Drink it, walk by it, have it flowing nearby. Take holidays by it, swim in it, and study it. You are 90% water. A dear writer friend of mine swears by toilet breaks for getting over writers block. Water helps you get into the creative flow on so many levels. Without it, there is not much of you left.
  
• An excuse to walk the scenic route – Whether it is walking a dog or feeding stale bread to ducks, get out into nature at least once daily. Walking will allow you to let off steam and clear your head. That beats playing "spot the idea amid all the clutter" and will make you rapidly more productive.
  
• A crowded square – People-watching is a great for finding new associations to help your ideas grow. J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter in a coffee shop. Snatched snippets of conversations and chance encounters make all the difference – SO LONG AS YOU STOP TO LOOK AND LISTEN. Invest the time, and you will reap rewards.
  
• Join the conversation – Social media is a constant source of inspiration nowadays. Just keep your objective in mind as you set your countdown clock and do a 10 minute resource harvest. Later, make sure you post something you learned in return to keep the flow going both ways.

I hope you find these tips to be as much value as I have. I love interaction, so if you have any questions, feel free to comment, get in touch on twitter (@andrewtilling) or check out The Nutshell Project blog. - Andrew Tilling

Predictable

Never underestimate predictability as an innovative and very attractive brand benefit.

For example, I stay at a particular hotel regularly where I have gold status. Frequently an upgrade’s offered for the stay. Often it’s a “preferred guest” floor room with slightly more plentiful amenities and free in-room bottles of water. As an all-suites property, there’s a microwave, a small fridge, and two place settings – all great for fixing a 5 a.m. breakfast.

During slow periods, I’ve been upgraded to a multi-level room on the top floor with a wonderful view, meeting space, and a full kitchen. Many times though, even with gold status, I’m in a regular room with few amenities and $4 bottled water.

Rather than gold status, I feels as if I have “Forrest Gump” status in their rewards program because I never know what I’m going to get.

While the preferred guest rooms have better amenities, the hotel remodeled those rooms last. So for nearly two years, the non-preferred rooms were much nicer, with better work space and lighting. The large multi-level room (considered the upgrade pinnacle) was the worst in the property, with water stains, peeling wallpaper, and a full flight of stairs to drag your luggage up once in the room. And invariably, when the room has great meeting space, I’m not traveling with a co-worker where our project would benefit from a place to work after hours.

During one stay the upgrade was to a lower floor multi-level room. This alleviated hauling luggage up the stairs. The meeting space was great with a huge TV, but it went completely unused. The water was still $4 and for the first time, there were no plates, silverware, or napkins. So eating an early breakfast required going outside to buy plastic utensils and paper towels!

Thus while appreciating the upgrade effort, the impact generally creates more challenges or wasted benefits than positives. If they ever asked about my brand experience, I’d say it’s “nice but unpredictable,” since there’s no opportunity to plan ahead to take advantage of a potential upgrade.

What could they do? Three simple steps:

1. Ask upfront about my particular situation and what would be of greatest benefit? More room? Better work space? A nicer view? A particular room location? All of these are available, but depending on the trip, which upgrade provides real benefit changes.
   
2. Realize that an upgrade can be about the experience and not the actual room. Why not be creative and have upgrade kits with amenities and free water no matter what room I’m offered?


3. Ask specifically at the end of the stay about how things were and consider the comments. This is something they never do.

Three simple steps. If they did them, they’d discover an opportunity to do less for me (either in actual expense or opportunity cost) and get credit for greater value, simply by asking first and delivering a predictable experience that reflects an understanding of my needs.