Day 6: The prepared mind

Seeing Tom is always a lift to the spirit. And a great reminder of the power of communication to prepare the sensorial matrix into which an experience is delivered. We spoke quite a bit about Frédéric Brochet's famous wine tasting experiments. Building on yesterday's theme, the power of expectation absolutely determines value. It is simply impossible to remove your past experiences from the way you understand and process the present moment. Even the parts of the brain that are engaged in deciphering a taste or touch sensation will be different depending on what you expect. 


Tom's point was that if we are talking about a values proposition, what people value will be determined by what they expect. Crafting a values proposition becomes a process of expectation engagement.



In the 80's and 90's mission and vision statements were all the vogue, as a proxy for organizational expectations. In this era of social media and new ways of listening to "the chatter" it should be easier to close the loop in a more dynamic way. The boundaries of what you consider to be the company have also become more permeable. This HBR blog makes a nice point that social media success depends on purpose. Isn't it time this purpose became more explicit both inside and outside the organization?