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 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...
by Annette Franz | Oct 22, 2025 | culture, culture change, employee experience, leadership, strategy, Uncategorized, workplace
Culture isn’t what’s written on your walls or printed in your employee handbook. It’s the unwritten rules, the behaviors you tolerate, and the silent agreements that shape every decision, interaction, and result. It’s not “soft stuff,” and it’s not fluffy, as...
by Annette Franz | Mar 5, 2025 | business outcomes, culture, leadership, strategy, Uncategorized, vision
Is the use of “versus” in the title an accurate portrayal? In last week’s article, I mentioned a culture vision in conjunction with your corporate vision. Here’s the thing, why I ask if “versus” is the right term: these two...
by Annette Franz | May 21, 2020 | career, customer experience, CX career, CX strategy, strategy, Uncategorized
Today I’m pleased to share a long-overdue guest post by Sarah Simon. Throughout my career, I’ve enjoyed the thrill of several transitions between parallel (related, but different) professional camps. In each case, there was some level of misalignment...
by Annette Franz | May 19, 2020 | alignment, brand promise, commitment, customer experience, CX strategy, employee experience, journey map, journey mapping, strategy, Uncategorized
This post was originally published and shared on CCW Digital on February 19, 2020. The following is an abbreviated excerpt from my book, Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the “Customer” in Customer Experience (and at the Heart of Your Business). Journey...
