Doable Is Dangerous

In this week's CX Passport, Gloria Gupta and I talked about transformation inside a complex organization.

It’s about choice.

I’ve seen this tradeoff play out more times than I can count.

A leader knows the right long-term move. Fix the broken authentication process. Redesign the experience properly. Invest in the infrastructure that prevents friction instead of patching over it.

But the quarter is closing.

Revenue needs to land. The board deck needs a clean story. The numbers have to hit.

So we ship the thing that’s good enough. We delay the foundational work. We optimize for this quarter’s optics at the expense of next year’s strength.

And here’s the uncomfortable part.

It often works.

The quarter closes. The slide turns green. The pressure releases.

But the friction remains. The technical debt grows. The customer feels the seams, even if the spreadsheet doesn’t.

That’s the danger of doable.

Doable aligns beautifully with quarterly pressure. Worth doing often conflicts with it.

And this is where CX leadership gets tested.

Because the most important experience decisions rarely announce themselves as dramatic. They show up as quiet tradeoffs:

• Do we redesign this or patch it?
• Do we simplify the policy or explain it better?
• Do we remove the friction or manage the complaint volume?

Hitting a number isn’t wrong. Businesses have to perform.

If every hard decision bends toward the quarter, the brand eventually pays for it.

Not “Can we do this?”

But “Is this worth doing?”

That’s a higher bar. And it doesn’t always win the room.

Your Turn:

Where are you choosing doable… when you know something more important is waiting?

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 with the American Medical Association CX - Gloria Gupta E252🎧 Listen on any Pod app

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