Arguably the worst idea to take hold in the business world — and a concept that is so firmly entrenched in the way we do things that few question it — is the notion that there are "thinkers" and "doers".

Managers, strategists and other intellectuals sit at the apex of the organization thinking, but not doing.

Manual laborers, contact center agents and cashiers are at the bottom, and can do but are not allowed to think.

Consequentially, many take a perverse pride in, or garner status from, being detached from real-world pragmatism, and aspire to exist in a purely intellectual sphere of abstract concepts, data, and theories. While actual execution or service delivery has become something for beings of an altogether different and lower caste, who are not allowed to seize the initiative or deviate from rigid procedures.

This is unhelpful for many reasons:

1. It’s a false distinction

Execution and service delivery requires as much intelligence, knowledge, insight, training and expertise — if not more — than “pure” knowledge work.

2. Execution is what matters most

The people who actually deliver a service are essential, those who aren’t are optional. If all the bin men in our city went on strike for a month we’d be in a rat infested hell within a few days. The same cannot be said for those further up the totem in their division, I fear. In any hierarchy, the level above exists to serve the level below, not the opposite way around, as Donella Meadows explained in her primer on systems thinking.

3. The front line is plugged into reality

People in front-line jobs — customer service, receptionists, cashiers, call center agents, etc. — have direct contact with customers and develop a “feel” over time for what is going on that is a rich source of feedback. Too bad it’s usually ignored!

With that in mind, my mental model of a customer experience professional isn’t a psychologist, prosecution attorney, anthropologist, scientist, chess grand-master, or human rights activist.

It’s a lowly plumber looking for where customer value is leaking out of the pipes of the business and fixing it. Modest, grounded, pragmatic, and solving real world problems.

See this post on LinkedIn