by Annette Franz | Sep 2, 2026 | core values, culture, employee experience, leadership, teamwork, Uncategorized
I originally wrote this post for Contact Center Pipeline. It appeared on their site in September 2025. Every company has a culture, whether it’s the one you design or the one you allow. But in many organizations, there are actually two: the mission culture, i.e., what...
by Annette Franz | Aug 5, 2026 | customer experience, customer-centric, customer-centric culture, data, employee experience, insights, leadership, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on August 1, 2025. In far too many organizations, decisions are made in boardrooms, far removed from the reality of the customer. Metrics are dissected. Dashboards are studied. Yet somehow,...
by Annette Franz | Jul 22, 2026 | culture, customer experience, employee experience, leadership, learning, Uncategorized
Most leaders believe they’re listening – and learning. They run surveys, host a town hall or two, do the occasional Gemba walk. Then they step back, review the data, and declare themselves “informed.” But they’re not; they’re sampling. And sampling...
by Annette Franz | Jul 15, 2026 | alignment, culture, customer experience, employee experience, golden thread, leadership, outcomes, strategy, systems thinking, Uncategorized
This is the fourth in a series on the Golden Thread and your systems. If you haven’t read Where the Golden Thread Breaks Most Often or Strategy Is a System, Not a Statement or Customers Don’t Experience Your Intentions. They Experience Your Systems. it’s worth...
by Annette Franz | Jul 8, 2026 | business outcomes, culture, customer experience, employee experience, golden thread, leadership, systems thinking, Uncategorized
This is the third in a series on the Golden Thread and your systems. If you haven’t read Where the Golden Thread Breaks Most Often or Strategy Is a System, Not a Statement, it’s worth starting there. We’ve established that the Golden Thread breaks when what leaders...
by Annette Franz | Jul 1, 2026 | culture, customer experience, employee experience, golden thread, leadership, strategy, Uncategorized
“Be customer-centric.” “Put employees first.” “Create a great experience.” Leaders say these things. They mean them. And then they wonder why nothing actually changes. Back in 2015, I wrote an article called “Be Positive” Is Not a...
