more than “just” an experience? (part 2)
Posted by: pudge in COMMUNICATE, COMMUNITY, LEADYou see, I don’t believe it’s just a great experience that sets these fans, employees and customers apart. I believe the two elements we overlook in these examples, that play a HUGE part, are…
- They all felt OWNERSHIP in the experience
- They all felt a part of a COMMUNITY connected to the experience
It’s not just a bunch of fans around a game or people going nuts over a mouse’s kingdom. They believe that COLLECTIVELY they really are a PART of it and that there PART makes a difference.
They believe themselves to really be the 12th man! They have OWNERSHIP in this team and believe their cheering, attendance and dedication plays a factor in the success of the event! They are surrounded by a COMMUNITY of people who believe the same and TOGETHER, that COLLECTIVELY their OWNERSHIP will be shown and exercised…no matter what!
They believe that although they’re pampered like a guest, that they BELONG to the park…that COLLECTIVELY its theirs! On opening day of DisneyLand Walt (Disney) looked at the crowd and said, “this is your park, we created this for YOU and your family.” He wanted employees & customers to COLLECTIVELY feel OWNERSHIP! At Disney, we all BELONG to a COMMUNITY of people that take OWNERSHIP in what’s happening..it’s OUR park!
SIDE NOTE: Ironically, our (the customers) mindshift in this begins with how Disney’s Cast & Crew members (employees) model it for us (the customers)!
In the end, the experience is SO important! It leaves a much larger impression than we know! However, not all teams have the crazy fans, but they have the same games. Not all parks have the family connection of customers & employees, but they all have a park.
Same environments, similar experiences…different results.
There IS a difference! It’s setting a standard, casting a vision and GIVING out OWNERSHIP to a COMMUNITY to people that we trust. Without fear of a “loss of value” but with faith of an “increased value.”
Many times the tendency is to cling to ownership & hand it out sparingly. The reasoning is rooted in the fact that we fear the experience will lose its value in execution when we give out ownership to (even) the “bought in” community that surround & support the experience.
Ironically, WHEN LEAD PROPERLY, the opposite is true…it grows more than it ever could with the few who protectively clung so tight to the ownership.
At the heart of it, when the people feel a part of what God’s doing…when the community feels ownership in the cause…their dedication and commitment grows, as does the body that surrounds the cause. Which ironically, so grows the hype of the “experience” itself (” ” - because the church is SO MUCH more than “just” an “experience”)!
So, in the end, maybe the question isn’t about how to grow the “experience” itself, but how to grow the community and ownership around the “experience?”
I dont know…just a thought. 