Continuing this walk-through of the last chapter in the book, here I discuss the second phase of transformation, encapsulated experiences.
For those who have read The Experience Economy, you know that these three phases appeared in Chapter 9 of the book where Jim Gilmore and I discussed transformations. The only difference between here and there is the change of the name of this phase from “staged experiences” to “encapsulated experiences”, based on my discovery of encapsulation, which I wrote about in Levels of Experiences, Part Three. When you guide transformations, you have to stage the experiences on which the transformation happens, but go further to encapsulate them with preparation beforehand and reflection and integration afterward.
Do let me know your feedback on this section through the link at the bottom of the post. Thank you.
Joe
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Encapsulated Experiences
All transformations again center on transformative experiences, those that progress aspirants from where they are today toward their aspiration. Yes, one singular life-changing experience is possible, but as the Figure indicates transformations generally occur through a series of experiences, one after the other, until customers finally achieve their aspirations, each one able to state those words of identity change: “I was X, now I am Y”. Transformative experiences form the nucleus of transformation guiding, the middle phase where you stage the right experiences at the right time in the right order for each aspirant.
Transformative experiences form the nucleus of transformation.
Ideally, you must properly encapsulate these experiences, as discussed in Chapter 5, to best prepare aspirants beforehand and then afterward guide them in reflecting and finally integrating the experiences into their lives. This should be done in concert with each successive transformative experience on the journey, each one building on top of the previous one to move aspirants onward and upward toward, and eventually to, their aspiration.
Except when they don’t. As mentioned in the last chapter, few transformations follow a nice, monotonically increasing path, which is why “journey” really is the right term. There are ups, and there are downs, advances and retreats, progression and regression. As the old military saying has it, no plan survives contact with the enemy, and when it comes to transformations – metamorphic ones in particular – there are enemies within and without individual aspirants, even more so for the collective aspirants of organizations, businesses, and communities.
Few transformations follow a nice, monotonically increasing path.
Sensing & Responding
You must therefore be prepared to adjust your transformation offering, no matter how well designed up front, in different ways for different aspirants. A modular architecture and transformation platform make this much easier to handle, as discussed in Chapter 6, as modules can be pulled “off the shelf” so to speak, on demand, triggered by how well or not the transformation journey is going.
Think of every transformative experience as a set of steps along the journey. Some are short, while some are long; some go smoothly, while some cover difficult terrain; some move forward in a straight shot, while others meander. There are milestones along the way, steps that should be recognized and celebrated, even when you are not sure exactly when each aspirant will reach them nor what precise modules will precede them.[i]
Street theatre provides a model for sensing & responding what aspirants need.
Recall also from Chapter 6 how street theatre is the model – not metaphor! – for experience guiding. This mass customized form of theatre where street performers deploy routines or “bits”, experience modules that enables them to mass customize every performance in response to whatever reactions they encounter. It’s almost like a dance with the audience, where positive reactions move the show forward while negative reactions (such as heckles) cause some remedial routines to get the audience back on track (meaning rooting for the performer). Along the way come several milestone bits that the performer excels at and always goes through, working toward the finale of the performance, the high point with the most engaging routine, such as juggling lit torches on a unicycle or blowing a fireball out of one’s mouth.
Obviously such 15- to 20-minute performances are very different than transformation journeys that take weeks or months, but I trust you can see it as a model, with its on-demand modules, encounters with customers, changing performances based on how those encounters go, the milestones, and the big finale. This last segment is akin to the achievement of the aspiration, something that should be celebrated – “I was X, now I am Y!” – as the capstone experience of the transformation offering.
For milestone experiences, consider employing rituals & ceremonies as well as emblems of transformation.
Rituals and ceremonies can be especially appropriate at such a time. Think of graduations, weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, baptisms, even retirement parties. How might you celebrate your aspirants’ achievements with or after a capstone experience, as we saw ChoiceCenter Leadership Institute do.
Consider too emblems of transformations, such as diplomas, certificates, badges, rings, pendants, watches, crosses, medallions, insignias, trophies, medals, and so forth. Emblems are to transformations as memorabilia are to experiences, serving not just as memory aids but tangibly signifying the achievement of an aspiration –to others as well as themselves. What emblems might you offer to your aspirants, for a fee or as an integrated part of the offering?
There are two other ways street theatre performances model the modularity of transformation journeys. First, they both must sense & respond in real time to new, unforeseen circumstances and figure out what to do about it, how best to intervene to keep the process on track. Street performers encounter heckles they’ve never heard before or outside interruptions of their performances, while transformation guiders occasionally encounter unfamiliar issues that arise with particular aspirants and the experiences they undergo, as well as disruptions to aspirant journeys outside of their control. In such cases, as with street performers, you must improvise (shifting to improv theatre) to handle the situation as best you can, figure it out as you go along, and invent some new intervention experience that can get the transformation back on track. Don’t stop there, however, for similar circumstances may arise for other aspirants down the road. Work to turn what you did here into a module that can be added to your architecture, available to be called on demand whenever circumstances require, and thereby renewing your transformation capabilities.
The final way street theatre and transformations are alike: not all succeed.
Avoiding Failure
The final way street theatre and transformations are alike: not all succeed. I once saw a performance in Dam Square, Amsterdam, where the street performer gave up after five or six minutes; everything he tried just could not get the audience going. (I’m not saying it was the audience’s fault; sometimes performers have bad days.) Similarly, many transformations stall and even flat out fail, with the fault sometimes on the aspirant, occasionally the guider, and at times both.[ii]
While no means a complete list, here are particular issues to look at to lessen the possibility of transformation failures:[iii]
Transformations are just plain hard.