The instinct that keeps getting us stuck

A familiar CX pattern:

Something isn’t working. So we add...

Add a metric.

Add a dashboard.

Add a meeting.

Add a governance layer.

Add a “center of excellence.”

None of that is careless. Each addition is usually well-intended. But over time, action slows down anyway.

That came up in this week's CX Passport with Frances Chapireau. We weren’t debating tools or platforms. We were talking about why insight so often stalls before it turns into action. She offered a simple example:

That idea applies to many areas...and yeah...CX too.

Improvement gets treated like construction. If the bridge feels unstable, we reinforce it. Another layer feels safer than removing one. Subtraction feels risky. Addition feels responsible.

But effort isn’t the same thing as effectiveness.

I’ve seen teams struggle not because they lack insight, but because too much sits between insight and action. Too many approvals. Too many handoffs. Too many forums designed to create alignment but incapable of making a decision. Eventually, the system becomes the blocker.

At that point, optimizing what we’ve added doesn’t help much.

The harder question is why it’s still there.

Do we really need every metric we track? Every meeting we hold? Every review step we inserted to “be safe”?

Sometimes the fastest way forward isn’t another layer of CX maturity. It’s fewer obstacles between a customer signal and the people who can respond to it.

Subtraction requires confidence. It also requires trust. Both are harder than adding another brick under the bridge.

But when CX feels heavy, slow, or performative, I’m increasingly convinced the answer isn’t more

It’s less

Your Turn: What’s one CX process, ritual, or artifact that might be time to remove … not improve?

Put those tray tables up and buckle those seat belts. Let’s go!

-Rick

P.S. If you know someone who might benefit from this week’s newsletter, please feel free to forward this to them. Or they can sign up here.

What’s on tap this week?…

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Host - Rick Denton Rick believes the best meals are served outside and require a passport

🎤🎞️The One Where She Works Past the Metrics – Frances Chapireau E249🎧 Listen on any Pod app

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