Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact

This book is inspiring, motivating, and fun to read. With my marketing hat on, I see the missed opportunities for forging real connections and experiences with customers. And in my personal life, I am reminded to practice courage, make deeper connections, and, to quote the authors, "defy the forgettable flatness of everyday work and life by creating a few precious moments."

Dan and Chip never let us down - immediately after reading The Power of Moments, I bought a few more copies for my team members.

Here's why:

* we all know positive moments are great
* but we usually "wait around" for them to happen
* in their latest framework, the Heath brothers guide us in manufacturing our own Moments

This book should be required reading for hospitality professionals, and parents should probably skip their 5th "how to nurse babies" book for the same reason.

Since finishing the book, I have a heightened sense of awareness for creating peaks, filling pits, and celebrating milestones. Thanks guys!

The Heath brother's Made to Stick is fantastic. When I saw this book, I was excited to see what deep insights they have on this topic.

There's some great examples of "moments" in the book. But there's also a lot of fluff, shoe-horning, and "What If" scenarios that made me groan.

One good example from the book about defining a moment involves a medical facility. Their MRI machine would scare young patients. These kids would have to be sedated in order to get through the entire scanning. A clever person noticed how scary it was from the kid's point of view, and re-decorated the room to make that moment (the period where a child has to get a MRI scan) less scary and much more exciting for the young patient.

Great example. I loved it. It made me rethink how my customers first get their hands on my service.

But then the book just starts picking out moments in history, and trying to find parallels to their topic in order to get to a high page count. I'm exaggerating here - but they could have talked about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the moon landing, and Janet Jackson's Superbowl Nip Slip as "moments". Yes Heath brothers, they are "moments", but it doesn't bring any insight to the table.

Another issue I had was the 'what-ifs' scenarios. Which again, I feel was used to fluff up the book. For example - Improving a Chinese Restaurant. Everyone has ideas on how to improve a restaurant. Everything from having the chef bring out a signature dish, to having toilets as seats so you can poo leaving the dinner table. The worst part - the idea itself didn't feel as if it was well-researched. It just sounded like two authors who fantasized about a great restaurant experience, without actually thinking about the 'how', 'why', and logistics. There was no interviews with restaurant owners or research on great restaurant experiences. Instead, using the cop out answer of "It'll make a great moment". Yeah, it will... but so will police officers who sing me a song after they write me a speeding ticket.

The book is average. But after experiencing Made to Stick, I expected much more from the Heath Brothers.

I love that this book included so many applicable stories not just for business but for the way we live in general.
I think it is applicable for any reader looking for direction on how to create memorable moments, business or otherwise.

So much great information in this book. Easily applicable to my professional work and personal life. I have shared many of the key takeaways with my team and we are currently developing a strategy to improve our customer satisfaction with lessons learned in the book.

The book gives wonderful insight to the power of a single moment and how it affects us. Pastor's if we learn how to create moments for worshippers and visitors then they will desire to Continue to worship God. Just imagine how people would feel if each time they left church Services they were able to say: I experienced God in the service today.

Really loved this book. Good quick read but they go a step further and really help you apply what you learn. Great book forbidea generation around motivation. I am using it to help build team goals for 2018.

I truly enjoyed this book. The stories were great and the key points were clear. This book inspired our organization to start an annual day of accomplishment to celebrate what we accomplished in the prior year! We broke the script and started something new and positive! Height recommend this read.

“We all have defining moments in our lives,” write brothers Chip and Dan Heath. These are “meaningful experiences that stand out in our memory.” Why? Because they elevate our lives above the daily grind, give us insight into ourselves and our world, cultivate legitimate pride in our achievements, and/or connect us with other people. “Defining moments shape our lives,” the Heaths write, “but we don’t have to wait for them to happen. We can be the authors of them.” Though written from a business perspective, The Power of Moments has obvious implications for ministry and is well worth reading.

I read every book the Heath brothers write because their insights and the research and real life perspectives that inform them are always on target. The Power of Moments follows in their tradition of an entertaining read that informs how you view parts of your life.

The best thing about the Heath brothers' work is that their books do not just stay on the shelf--I have really used the knowledge I have found in all four of their books, shaping my own work and important life decisions. A bookseller introduced me to "Made to Stick" when it first came out and I have been an avid fan since then. "The Power of Moments" is a must-read. Thinking about who this book could benefit, I can't think of anyone who it would not benefit! Whether you are planning a family vacation, motivating your employees, or giving a high-stakes presentation, learning how to make experiences more meaningful and memorable is a highly valuable skill. The knowledge shared in "The Power of Moments" is specific and practical, but not formulaic. You could apply the principles to very different events and create unique experiences for each of them. Thanks to Dan and Chip Heath for another fantastic book!

Moments is a book worth reading over and over, but more like continued education because it offers value that is worth refreshing. My wife and I read the book together and there were times when we were both in tears and times we were just caught up in conversation. Perhaps the biggest gain you will get from the book is moments are not reserved for those who are better looking, richer or the most charismatic. The book makes the concepts of connecting something I would like to detail here but Dan and Chip do such a great job... I will not offer any spoilers for the book.

Perhaps the most significant comment I would make, is some authors seem to have good content but it doesn't reach the potential it could because they try to get the book out too fast. It has been years since these gents put out their last book and it is a great example of tourtise and the hair creativity. They took the time it takes, kept their eye on the goal and did not rush out a second rate work. Kudos for keeping progress but not being hasty. This makes me wonder how long till the next book, but knowing they way they do it makes the moments better. Excellent delivery of an awesome topic.

Well written and interesting, but as is typical of so many business books today, really a magazine/journal article blown up into a book. Their thesis is that we can make life more memorable (they say meaningful but really mean memorable) by emphasizing certain incidents. They also somewhat confuse the issue by citing certain marketing examples, like some hotel that has a 'popsicle hotline' and will bring someone by the pool a popsicle at any time, which seem to be more about clever gimmicks than about anything true. Also, there is no way of knowing how much their cherry-picked examples are representative of anything. The stories are good, like the home visits helping turn around the failing school, but is there anything generalizable here? Where is their evidence? In fairness, they don't claim to be presenting science, but as they do claim, in some fashion, to have a theory of 'moments' they probably should have made more effort to develop a hypothesis and test it, rather than just cite confirming (or apparently confirming) stories. I'm sure they know better, but then again they have written the best-selling book, and made quite a name for themselves, so maybe they are in fact doing exactly what they want to do, and if it happens to be 'true' fine, and if not, well, they probably figure, no harm done.

Must our defining moments in life just happen to us?

Is it possible to be mindful of the opportunity both in our personal lives and our professional roles and make an impact and create stand out moments?

This is the premise of The Power of Moments by the best selling authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath. It is unique, original, and full of excellent examples.

Like their previous books, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die and Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, the Heath brothers, professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business and senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center respectively, provide key insights and a framework on how to make their subject a reality.

To make a moment, “stick” it’s about elevation, insight, pride, and/or connection.

To make an experience memorable, it’s not about filling in the “pits”, “potholes” or the service failures or areas that aren’t working. Though these are important, these fixes are expected. Individuals or customers won't remember anything extraordinary. For something to be memorable, it's about building a peak (elevation).

For example, high school students in San Mateo, California, spend two months preparing for a trial in front of student peers, present in an actual courtroom, and call on witness from history (Hitler, Gandi, Mother Teresa) and others (Darth Vader, Mark Twain, and even Tupac Shakur) on whether William Golding’s Lord of the Flies was libel for “grossly misrepresenting human nature” when describing the savagery, exhibited by the boys in his book, as being a direct consequence of defects in human nature.

Instead of simply reading history and English textbooks and writing essays, students have to prepare for The Trial of Human Nature. They need to integrate their learnings from English (Golding's work) and History (fascism, World War II) to make a case for and against. Students become the witnesses, attorneys, and the judge. Teachers and school alumni are the jury. The gallery of spectators in the actual courtroom are peers and family. Students are dressed up and bussed in. It's an event; it's a spectacle. The energy, devotion, and intensity equal to any sporting event final. One side wins and one side loses. As of this book's printing, they are on their 29th consecutive run of the trial.

The creators of this trial asked many years ago, "What if we could design an academic experience that was as memorable as prom?”

Makes you want to sign up, doesn’t it?

This is simply one of many great examples of how we can create these moments to make an impact. Instead of hoping we have such a moment happen to us, how might we foster and catalyze otherwise mundane tasks or uneventful activities of daily living into something much more?

If you are able to string together the concepts of elevation, insight, pride and connection, the power of the moment will be even better. I've already used some of the ideas to make the first day for new employees truly unique and special. Who does these things? Not too many people. But with this book, you can and you will.

In the end, this book provides every useful and actionable advice and techniques to ensure each of us have a chance to create a moment that has an extraordinary impact. It's destined to be a classic.

The Heath brothers have done it again: find what works, then reduce it to the essential principles we can then apply to new situations and achieve results. In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath give us the tools to actually create defining moments — meaningful, memorable experiences — and not just leave them to chance.

My first encounter with the Heath brother’s work is a little fuzzy in my memory, but I saw one of their books and recognized one of the authors had the same name as a fellow student from my university days. Closer inspection showed that yes, that student I was slightly acquainted with was indeed a New York Times bestselling author. Well, of course I had to read it (Switch). Although the Heath brothers write mostly to a business audience, and my only business is that of running my family smoothly, I always have memorable takeaways from their books. In Switch I learned to look for bright spots and apply what works to the not-so-bright areas, and in Decisive to look for possible ways to "ooch" those hard decisions. Now, in The Power of Moments, a book about “defining moments” and how to shape them, we have ideas that can be easily applied to either business or everyday life.

The Heath brothers take a close look at defining moments and what they have in common, and reduce them to elements that we can make use of to create those moments ourselves: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. They provide plenty of fascinating real life examples and stories that inspire us to get out there and make some positive moments in our lives. Negative moments are also explored, and the growth that can come from them. The book is straightforward, interesting, and inspiring.

When I heard this book was being released, I asked for and received an advanced reader copy.

The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have An Extraordinary Impact written by acclaimed NYT bestselling author’s Chip Heath and his brother Dan Heath, is an engaging and exceptional book that combines the latest research from education, teaching, business, to technology with four basic principal concepts. These concepts shape and define our world, and can be applied to every aspect of our personal and professional lives.

The author’s note that our lives are measured in moments—“We all have defining moments in our lives.” Many believe these are the result of fate, luck, or intervention of a higher power. It was surprising to learn that we can increase these important moments, and do not have to wait around or be on stand-by wondering what will happen next. We can create experiences and situations that foster these breakthrough memorable moments that enrich our connections with others that can move us in an entirely new direction or career path.

The four noted elements defined in the book: Moments of Elevation, Moments of Insight, Moments of Pride, Moments of Connection-- were fully explained and how these were applied in this breakthrough ideology. It was interesting to note the ways people remember certain life experiences and forget others. The defining moments of our lives influence us in a multitude of ways and impact our understanding of the people, culture and natural world around us. Every culture has their own special and higher moments: celebrations and parties of all kinds, religious customs/rituals, and political civic events, etc. Research supported that with the combination of negative and positive information “Bad was stronger than Good” People tend to remember and obsess over negative experience/outcomes over more positive and happier times. One example was sport fans remembering losses over wins.

There were many interesting stories. The first was about improvement that led to insight and better education, relief workers that helped primitive isolated villagers with sanitation measures, a leadership conference that stressed that innovation started outside the office, workers were treated respectfully and encouraged to participate in a retreat. A new marketing strategy encouraged the vital importance of going beyond understanding and actually “feel” the customer’s needs. This is a brief review, there was much more to this remarkable fascinating book that truly has the power to change and influence a person’s life and work.
Chip Heath is a professor in Business Education at Stanford University, and has helped launch over 450 businesses. He lives in Los Gatos, CA. Dan Heath is a senior fellow at Duke University, he lives in Durham, N.C. **With thanks and appreciation to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.

My review title says it all. Highly recommended!

p.s. Below please find some favorite passages of mine for your reference.
When people assess an experience, they tend to forget or ignore its length (duration neglect). Instead, they seem to rate the experience based on two key moments: 1. The best or worst moment, known as the “peak” and 2. The ending. Psychologists call it the “peak-end rule.” Pg8
When we assess our experiences, we don’t average our minute by minute sensations. Rather we tend to remember flagship moments: the peaks, the pits, and the transitions. Pg9
Some moments are vastly more meaningful than others….But we tend to ignore this truth. We’re not good at investing in such moments. Pg11
The lack of attention paid to an employee’s first day is mind boggling. What a wasted opportunity to make a new team member feel included and appreciated. Pg18
We have a natural hunger for these landmarks in time….that give us an excuse to reset our record, such as the start of a new month or even a new week. Pg25
Companies in this era of apps and personal tracking devices have grown much smarter about surfacing milestones that were previously invisible….conjuring up defining moments of pride – for the trivial cost of an email. All it required was some attention to milestones. Pg27
Almost 25% of the positive encounters cited by customers were actually employee’s responses to service failures: slow service, mistaken orders, lost reservations, delayed flights and so on….Every great service company is a master of service recovery. An executive of a company that builds custom homes shared with us an insight from his customer satisfaction data. To maximize customer satisfaction, you don’t want to be perfect. You want to get two things wrong, have the customer bring those mistakes to your attention, and then hustle like mad to fix those problems. Pg29
Why did everyone love the story of Joshie? Because it shattered our expectations. What do we expect to happen when a boy loses a stuffed animal on vacation? For it to be returned, may be. If he’s lucky. Instead, someone at the Ritz spent a few hours zipping around the resort with a stuffed giraffe, snapping absurd pics…..The staff at the Ritz broke the script….Popsicle Hotline never gets old. Pg69
So how do you break the script consistently enough that it matters – but not so consistently that customers adapt to it? One solution is to introduce a bit of randomness. At Pret A Manger, regular customers noticed that, every now and then, they’d be given something for free with their order…..Its employees are allowed to give away a certain number of hot drinks and food items every week….28% of people have had something free. Pg73
In 2007, the British Medical Journal asked its readers to vote on the most important medical milestone that had occurred since 1840, when the BMJ was first published. Third place went to aesthesia, second to antibiotics. The winner was: the sanitary revolution, encompassing sewage disposal and methods for securing clean water. Pg97
This tree part recipe - 1. Clear insight 2. Compressed in time 3. Discovered by the audience itself provides a blueprint for us when we want people to confront uncomfortable truths…..Kamal Kar did not tout the virtues of latrines. Microsoft’s Scot Guthrie did not pitch a new feature set for Azure. What they did, instead, was dramatize the problems: Ingesting faeces. Struggling to use a software package. And once those problems became vivid in the minds of the audience members, their thoughts immediately turned to….solutions. You can’t appreciate the solution until you appreciate the problem. Pg105
Mentors push, mentees stretch (which creates a moment of self-insight: I learnt that I’m capable of more than I thought)…..wise criticism: I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know you can reach them. (High standards + assurance)…What great mentors do is add two more elements: direction and support. I have high expectations for you and I know you can meet them. So try this new challenge and if you fail, I ‘ll help you recover. That’s mentorship in two sentences. pg122-3
A six sigma process is one that produces only 3.4 defects per million attempts. Pg124
(For recognition) the style is not important. What’s important is authenticity: being personal not programmatic. And frequency: closer to weekly than yearly. And of course what’s most important is the message: I saw what you did and I appreciate it. Pg151
That’s the milestone effect. That’s an exhausted runner who turns out her afterburners with one mile to go because she cannot bear to let the numbers on the stopwatch cross X hours. Pg174
What milestones do is compel us to make that push, because a) they’re within our grasp, and b) we’ve chosen them precisely because they’re worth reaching for. Milestones define moments that are conquerable and worth conquering. Pg175
Practice quiets the anxiety that can cloud our mind in a tough moment. When we lack practice, our good intentions often falter….To resist drugs, students need the opportunity to practice courage. The hard part isn’t knowing what the right thing to do is. The hard part is doing it. Pg190

The Heath brothers have presented some fun thoughts to think in the pages of this one, and I plan to come back to these words and concepts often, because this is a book about being intentional. This is a book about making relationships special through the power of moments... moments that are anticipated and choreographed to the extent possible through goodwill and purpose.

It seems a small thing, but I even liked the way each chapter finished with a quick rundown of each of the vignettes that were shared in each chapter, because it didn't seem forced. It always flowed so well with the conclusion of that chapter's takeaways. I could actually visualize each of those "scenes" just the way I pictured them when I initially read each one.

This book is also a great compliment to Bob Goff's "Everybody Always" which seems to align quite favorably with this work. In fact, I would say that "The Power of Moments" is to the head what "Everybody Always" is to the heart. Both are outstanding must-reads that can change the way you approach all of your relationships, at home and at work, if you practice what you read in either book.

And like "Everybody Always," this is also going to end up being one of my all-time favorite books. I don't usually re-read a book after I've finished it, but I'll come back to this one again.

After having been lucky enough to receive an Advance Reader's Copy, I read "The Power of Moments" from beginning to end, pausing only to share compelling stories and insights with my family, friends, and colleagues. As with all of Chip and Dan Heath's books, the personal and clear writing style makes the book very easy and interesting to read - the humor helps to lighten and enlighten the messages - and the simple structure provides a framework that ties the ideas together. I am very committed to creating powerful and positive moments for people in my own life and work - from special times with family and friends to teaching skills that can make a lasting difference to people. This book helps me to do a better job myself - and be better able to explain how to do this to others. I am recommending this book to everyone I know!

The Power of Moments, authored by brothers Chip and Dan Heath, outlines ways we can introduce defining moments in our lives. Whether at work or home, with individuals or groups, kids or adults, the ideas introduced in the book can be adapted and applied. Broken into four sections: Elevation, Insight, Pride, and Connections, the authors define their terms, give examples of when these work, and steps to implement them in our own lives.

As I read the book I kept imagining what I could do with co-workers, clients, and family members. How could I establish a tradition or create a memory so impactful, it would resonate for years? Some of the ideas are fairly simple and cost effective; others are more elaborate and could be cost prohibitive. Yet, I still felt like the advice is manageable and relevant for a wide array of people. After finishing the book, I discovered a link to a website for additional ideas, a newsletter, and once I signed up for the newsletter, an email address for the authors. I sent a note with a question and to my delight, Chip responded within hours. It is always appreciated when an author answers an email, and even more so, in such a short period of time. I look forward to trying out his personal suggestions based on a situation I described. Lastly, I am a fan of the Freakanomics series, as well as books by Malcolm Gladwell, like the Tipping Point, which resonate with me in similar ways. Based on other reviewers comments, it looks like I will now be reading other books by the Heaths.

( I was provided a copy of the book by Net Galley in order to write an objective review.)

WINNER - 2017 NON-OBVIOUS BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS!

Do the defining moments of our lives just happen to us or is there some pattern to why they stand out? What causes us to misremember some experiences and moments as more positive than they actually were, and others as the opposite? These are the questions the Heath brothers tackle in this new book and they are widely relevant.

Using examples ranging from a quirky California hotel with a “popsicle hotline” to a powerful idea from a high school to celebrate “signing day” when their seniors declare where they are going to college the same way we celebrate athletes getting drafted – this book does a masterful job of illustrating the wide range of moments in our lives that matter and just how much can be done to make them better.

These moments are the way that we understand big ideas, make wholesale changes, and delight in experiences. Ultimately, this book will leave you with a new found appreciation for just how important these experiences are, as well as just how much they can be shaped and improved in business if you just focus on them.

This book was Shortlisted as part of the Non-Obvious Business Book Awards. These awards are curated by the team at Non-Obvious Company, led by Rohit Bhargava - author of the Non-Obvious Trend Series Non-Obvious 2018 Edition: How To Predict Trends And Win The Future (Non-Obvious Series).

The structure of their previous books is still intact - a core premise, slick collection of anecdotes, some citations of academic research, bite-sized 'wisdom' at each section, and "businessy" summary sheets. Here, the core premise is that defining moments doesnt "just have to happen", one can create them. Personally, I find that a bit incomplete. It may be possible to manufacture them for someone else (sometimes), but can one propel self with this information? It is not addressed completely. By focusing deeply on examples derived from the service industry (healthcare, finance, education), the authors provide a fairly compelling argument that systemic and systematic changes can be made to create more impactful events (not everything has to be "defining"); Examples that standout include those on curriculum development, patient experience, and opportunities for banks to forge deeper relations with clients. But the power to create these moments still read like somewhat of a benevolent paternalism and a degree of artificiality to it - perhaps the end justifies all that (minor?) issues. A reader who may be in a position to influence service design, explore policies in customer management, identify opportunities for differentiating from competition, etc.. will benefit from the ideas and the framework presented by the authors. Compared to the two previous books (Switch, Decisive) this book's direct applicability to an individual for self-improvement (despite interesting discussions on responsiveness and gamification strategies for milestones) seems muted (at least for me). An entertaining book, nevertheless.

I've read every Heath Brothers book and find their work so useful for the multiple realms I operate in. I work as a college instructor, I serve in my local church, and I teach internationally. Each book from the Heath's have added important information to what I do and this new book continues this tradition. .
The Power of Moments has caused me to rethink the ways we introduce new employees at work, to how we do birthdays as a family, and for greater openness in my home to creating meaningful moments together. I have loved the stories and practical examples.
I'm going to add this text to the next course I teach and will be recommending it to friends and family alike. Definitely worth picking up.

We can all recount moments that changed our lives. This book is about those moments - what they have in common, how to recognise a moment and, most importantly, how to create one. There are a range of examples of how 'moments' can be used to change things - from teaching, to improving sanitation in the developing world, to turning around failing schools.

The writing style is conversational and accessible, but there seems to be sound research behind everything. Because of the storytelling aspects of the book, I found it quite a moving read in places (especially the bit about the guy who wrote his mother a letter).

I heartily recommend this book, especially to anyone who feels like their life is stuck in a rut. It certainly made me think about how I could do things better (or at least differently), so I guess reading it was a moment in itself.

I received a free copy of this from Netgalley/ the publishers in return for an honest review. Thank you!

The Power of Moments, authored by brothers Chip and Dan Heath, outlines ways we can introduce defining moments in our lives. Whether at work or home, with individuals or groups, kids or adults, the ideas introduced in the book can be adapted and applied. Broken into four sections: Elevation, Insight, Pride, and Connections, the authors define their terms, give examples of when these work, and steps to implement them in our own lives.

As I read the book I kept imagining what I could do with co-workers, clients, and family members. How could I establish a tradition or create a memory so impactful, it would resonate for years? Some of the ideas are fairly simple and cost effective; others are more elaborate and could be cost prohibitive. Yet, I still felt like the advice is manageable and relevant for a wide array of people. After finishing the book, I discovered a link to a website for additional ideas, a newsletter, and once I signed up for the newsletter, an email address for the authors. I sent a note with a question and to my delight, Chip responded within hours. It is always appreciated when an author answers an email, and even more so, in such a short period of time. I look forward to trying out his personal suggestions based on a situation I described. Lastly, I am a fan of the Freakanomics series, as well as books by Malcolm Gladwell, like the Tipping Point, which resonate with me in similar ways. Based on other reviewers comments, it looks like I will now be reading other books by the Heaths.

( I was provided a copy of the book by Net Galley in order to write an objective review.)

WINNER - 2017 NON-OBVIOUS BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS!

Do the defining moments of our lives just happen to us or is there some pattern to why they stand out? What causes us to misremember some experiences and moments as more positive than they actually were, and others as the opposite? These are the questions the Heath brothers tackle in this new book and they are widely relevant.

Using examples ranging from a quirky California hotel with a “popsicle hotline” to a powerful idea from a high school to celebrate “signing day” when their seniors declare where they are going to college the same way we celebrate athletes getting drafted – this book does a masterful job of illustrating the wide range of moments in our lives that matter and just how much can be done to make them better.

These moments are the way that we understand big ideas, make wholesale changes, and delight in experiences. Ultimately, this book will leave you with a new found appreciation for just how important these experiences are, as well as just how much they can be shaped and improved in business if you just focus on them.

This book was Shortlisted as part of the Non-Obvious Business Book Awards. These awards are curated by the team at Non-Obvious Company, led by Rohit Bhargava - author of the Non-Obvious Trend Series Non-Obvious 2018 Edition: How To Predict Trends And Win The Future (Non-Obvious Series).

The structure of their previous books is still intact - a core premise, slick collection of anecdotes, some citations of academic research, bite-sized 'wisdom' at each section, and "businessy" summary sheets. Here, the core premise is that defining moments doesnt "just have to happen", one can create them. Personally, I find that a bit incomplete. It may be possible to manufacture them for someone else (sometimes), but can one propel self with this information? It is not addressed completely. By focusing deeply on examples derived from the service industry (healthcare, finance, education), the authors provide a fairly compelling argument that systemic and systematic changes can be made to create more impactful events (not everything has to be "defining"); Examples that standout include those on curriculum development, patient experience, and opportunities for banks to forge deeper relations with clients. But the power to create these moments still read like somewhat of a benevolent paternalism and a degree of artificiality to it - perhaps the end justifies all that (minor?) issues. A reader who may be in a position to influence service design, explore policies in customer management, identify opportunities for differentiating from competition, etc.. will benefit from the ideas and the framework presented by the authors. Compared to the two previous books (Switch, Decisive) this book's direct applicability to an individual for self-improvement (despite interesting discussions on responsiveness and gamification strategies for milestones) seems muted (at least for me). An entertaining book, nevertheless.

I've read every Heath Brothers book and find their work so useful for the multiple realms I operate in. I work as a college instructor, I serve in my local church, and I teach internationally. Each book from the Heath's have added important information to what I do and this new book continues this tradition. .
The Power of Moments has caused me to rethink the ways we introduce new employees at work, to how we do birthdays as a family, and for greater openness in my home to creating meaningful moments together. I have loved the stories and practical examples.
I'm going to add this text to the next course I teach and will be recommending it to friends and family alike. Definitely worth picking up.

Moments is a book worth reading over and over, but more like continued education because it offers value that is worth refreshing. My wife and I read the book together and there were times when we were both in tears and times we were just caught up in conversation. Perhaps the biggest gain you will get from the book is moments are not reserved for those who are better looking, richer or the most charismatic. The book makes the concepts of connecting something I would like to detail here but Dan and Chip do such a great job... I will not offer any spoilers for the book.

Perhaps the most significant comment I would make, is some authors seem to have good content but it doesn't reach the potential it could because they try to get the book out too fast. It has been years since these gents put out their last book and it is a great example of tourtise and the hair creativity. They took the time it takes, kept their eye on the goal and did not rush out a second rate work. Kudos for keeping progress but not being hasty. This makes me wonder how long till the next book, but knowing they way they do it makes the moments better. Excellent delivery of an awesome topic.

We can all recount moments that changed our lives. This book is about those moments - what they have in common, how to recognise a moment and, most importantly, how to create one. There are a range of examples of how 'moments' can be used to change things - from teaching, to improving sanitation in the developing world, to turning around failing schools.

The writing style is conversational and accessible, but there seems to be sound research behind everything. Because of the storytelling aspects of the book, I found it quite a moving read in places (especially the bit about the guy who wrote his mother a letter).

I heartily recommend this book, especially to anyone who feels like their life is stuck in a rut. It certainly made me think about how I could do things better (or at least differently), so I guess reading it was a moment in itself.

I received a free copy of this from Netgalley/ the publishers in return for an honest review. Thank you!

This is a fascinating book and practical book the same time. There are some really good insights and ideas within its pages. While I found the work related stuff interesting, for me it is in my personal life but I will be able to make most use of it. Highly recommended.

This book highlights some interesting ways that companies and organizations are able to create defining moments as a way to take their performance to the next level. The authors provide some data that supports the boost in sales or other performance data that can happen when you succeed in creating those moments. I enjoyed reading the examples that the authors wrote about in the book, but they weren't particularly memorable, and I was left wondering why the authors wouldn't have made some effort in trying to apply their concept to the book that they were writing? The author's premise is to show people how to create defining moments, but beyond writing a book about it, how do the authors attempt to make their book memorable? For me, there was nothing remarkable about this one, and I had to look back through the book at the examples they gave before I wrote this review - I probably won't remember much about it a month from now.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Upon hearing about this book as a subscriber of the Heath Brothers Newsletter, I was rightfully excited. Chip and Dan put enormous amounts of work into each book they publish and it shows.

Each book, Switch, Made to Stick, Decisive, and now The Power of Moments is extremely practical and a very fun read.

The authors take the time to explain the idea of the book, get at the principles behind their idea behind what makes moments special and go into detail throughout the remaining chapters.

I like reading these books because they are somewhat applicable to my business but, more so, my own life. I find myself buying extra copies of Heath Brothers books and intend to buy another copy of The Power of Moments in the future. (I give my copies away because I feel selfish sharing these treasures)

What I always find so interesting is the fact that nothing is left hidden. If you find yourself wondering, why people make decisions or where Chip and Dan's inspirations come from, they provide references and recommended reads.

More, Chip and Dan have extra resources on their website, for just the cost of your email. Since I signed up as a subscriber a couple years ago, they've maybe sent 4-5 emails. I look forward to the next book!

Wow - what an amazing book! This is a book everyone needs to read! Dan and Chip are truly engaging writers and this book is practical for so many situations in life. This book was more than a fun read: it's in my frequently referenced pile of "go-to books for getting me out of a rut and generating ideas".
Whether it's family life, work, friends, pleasure - there's something that can be learned for all of these areas.
The authors talk about insight as being one thing that makes moments powerful: this book uncovered so many insights for me that I'm starting to quote it to others.
This book is more than fascinating: it's helpful!

The Power of Moments can alter your life. I read it once and am reading it again because I just fell in love with the whole idea of making moments matter. I never before thought of how you can elevate moments so they stand out for the people in your life. In the book Chip and Dan Heath give you specific actions to take to make some of the simplest moments special. You will yearn to take action to make times stand out and you will know how to do it through this book. This book should be read by every school child as well as their teachers. I can't say enough good about making moments matter that I discovered through their book. It can light up your life!