While skimming a pile of magazines–something I do for intellectual stimulation and entertainment–I ran across the picture of the Thunderbolt HM4 watch. Maximilian Busser has fashioned a high end watch based on the shape of twin jet engines of the A-10 Thunderbolt II U.S. fighter. Wow, what a cool looking watch!

It instantly made me smile.

Good products and services do that. They cause momentary delight and make us smile.

Much of what we experience in the marketplace is commonplace. Some of our interactions with products, services and those who provide them we endure.

Good design–of things or experiences–elicits a spontaneous smile. And there’s nothing like unexpected delighted to burn a good memory the brain.

What are you doing to make your customers and clients smile?

This past weekend the NHRA held the inaugural 4-Wide Nationals in Concord, North Carolina. Historically drag racing has been a competition between two drivers. The noise and visuals of this kind of racing is sensory nirvana for drag racing fans.

What could be more exciting?

Double your racers, double your fun. 4-wide racing ratchets up the excitement dramatically. Imagine the spectacle of four 2,000 horsepower machines thundering side by side in a race to the 1,000 foot finish and you’ll get the idea.

Drivers approach the race differently when facing two extra competitors. Technique and strategy change and the biggest beneficiary is the fan. NHRA has given fans a new huge reason to keep attending it’s events.

What are you doing to refresh and revive your business model? What have you done lately to engage your customers in new and dramatic ways? What have you done to change the game for your competitors?

It is time to go 4-wide.

When we have a memorable customer service experience–for good or for bad–what do we talk about?

We talk about the “who”–the person–that caused it.

When we stop patronizing a business or when we keep coming back, why do we do it?

We are loyal or leave because of the “who.”

When it comes to service, the what and the why are always a who.

I’ve written about Fred the Postman, the most incredible postal carrier I’ve ever met. Yesterday I encountered the postal carrier for my office. “Is it too late to mail a letter?” I inquired. She stuck out her hand, the non-verbal suggestion that “No, it isn’t too late, just give it to me.” I did and said “thank you” to a mute service provider.

Good or bad, it is always about the who.

I get gas and buy a newspaper at the same convenience store most days. I’ve become friends with Rick who works mornings. He’s been missing in action. I’ve learned he had a knee injury. Nobody knows when he’ll be back. The people filling in for Rick are okay, but they’re not Rick. I miss his upbeat demeanor and helpfulness. I’m less disposed to buying my papers or gas there until he returns.

Why we love or hate an experience and what we do about it inevitably comes back to the who: who did or didn’t perform. Who helped or hindered. Who solved the problem or who created it.

To get control of the what and they why, pay close attention to the who.

Recently I posted my experiences of the past week which were quite extraordinary: I snowmobiled, skied, raced go karts, snorkeled, rode ATVs and spoke twice for clients here in the U.S. and Mexico. Some of the recreational activities were around my work in Mexico.

A friend on Facebook commented, “Life is good!”

Yes, life is good. But the all fun activities of the week (an anomaly for me) weren’t what made life “good.”

Snowmobiling Rabbit Ears Pass at 10,000 feet was exciting, but spending time with close male friends and the fellowship we had were what made it good.

Skiing was fun and a good workout, but the inspiration of the mountains that deepened my reflection and creativity were what made it good.

Go kart racing was a blast, but doing something with both my boys that they love to do was what made it good.

ATV riding and snorkeling in Mexico were a treat, but getting to know my client and some audience members better made it good.

Aldous Huxley said, “Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellenspont, or danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a matter of sensibility and intuition, of seeing and hearing the significant things, of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and coordinating. Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.”

In the same vein, what makes life good isn’t so much what happens to us as it is what we do with what happens to us; good comes from the lessons we learn, the meaning we extract and the relationships we deepen.

The past week was fun and enjoyable with all the things I was fortunate to do, but that isn’t what made life good. Life is good all the time if we learn to focus on what is truly significant and lasting in the ordinary and extraordinary events of each day.