I’m on my way back from Australia; the end to a very long, but wonderful road trip.
I’ve had a busy couple of months, delivering speeches and training in Salt Lake City (twice), London (twice), Orlando, Madrid, Sydney, and Melbourne, in addition to remote sessions in Paris and Philadelphia. What have I been speaking about?
- Operationalizing Experience Management (XM). As I’ve discussed, XM will drive transformation across organizations for the next decade. But how do you turn XM into a discipline? By mastering 6 XM competencies (Lead, Realize, Activate, Enlighten, Respond, and Disrupt) and 20 XM skills. That’s been the core of my message. Stay tuned, you’ll be seeing a lot more on this topic!
- The Human Experience Model. To deliver breakthrough experiences, it’s important to understand how people process experiences. That’s what the Human Experience Cycle is all about.
- Five For The Fight. One of the most inspiring things we do at Qualtrics is to support 5 for the Fight, a foundation to put an end to cancer. It was center stage at all of the X4s, and I incorporated it into my discussions whenever possible.
My latest trip was to Australia, where I spoke at my third Qualtrics X4 Summit (on a third continent) this year. I really enjoyed the trip, except for the grueling flights. Why can’t we just get to Oz by clicking our heels three times?!?
Unlike my first trip to Australia a few years ago, this one was all about work (except for some nice meals with friends). But I’m not complaining. As you can see in the pictures, I got to experience Vivid Sydney, got close with some local wildlife, enjoyed some good cuisine, and kicked up my heels in the Sydney office while enjoying the amazing view of Sydney Harbour.
Of course, the best part of the trip was getting to know my Australian colleagues at Qualtrics. It’s a dynamic, scrappy bunch, and they’re doing a fantastic job helping companies across the region adopt XM.
I was also able to visit several companies in Sydney and Melbourne. My last visit was with Qantas, which was a great way to end the trip. It was energizing to review their plans and to see how focused they are on XM. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they’ve accomplished during my next visit.
But the most surprising part of my trip was a visit to two government offices. That’s right, government! I had the privilege of meeting with the newly appointed Minister of Customer Service for NSW, Victor Dominello. What an inspiration! He has a robust vision for improving how government operates and is already changing the way that NSW interacts with citizens.
During our visit, he pulled out his mobile dashboard that keeps track of feedback from citizens across many government services. He not only cares about the how citizens are treated, he tracks it and holds the different agencies accountable for it.
Dominello’s aspirations are supported by a fantastic team at Service NSW. which is the organization responsible for interfacing with citizens. Their offices are cramped as you might expect in a government building, but the walls are filled with artifacts that make it look like you’re in a world-class design agency.
The team is applying leading-edge XM practices to understand citizen behavior and design experiences that help the government achieve its goals. It’s more than just improving service, the group is using XM tools to achieve objectives like better serving underprivileged groups.
While I enjoyed my entire trip, I’m happy to be heading back to Boston. Oz is great, but there’s no place like home!
The bottom line: XM is gaining momentum around the world, even Down Under!
