International Process and Performance Institute

You’ve probably heard the term “Moments of Truth.” You may even use the concept in your own process work. You may even attribute the concept to someone in recent times. But the term Moments of Truth was first articulated as part of a management philosophy by a man named Richard Normann.

Though not nearly as well known as other management thought leaders, Richard Normann holds a special place in the hearts of those who do know about him. Considered by many to be one of the most visionary business luminaries of our time, Richard Normann developed the foundation of customer-centric value chain thinking with Moments of Truth as the central idea around which his insights were built.

It was Richard Normann that inspired Jan Carlzon. It was Richard Normann who brought to our attention the fact that the experiences we provide to our customers are primarily formed by these Moments of Truth, and that by owning and managing them we can transform the customer relationship into something that delights our customers, astounds our competitors and enthuses our employees.

At the International Process and Performance Institute this concept of Moments of Truth is used extensively to understand and improve process. The most interesting aspect of this is that when we do focus on Moments of Truth in a process in order to improve the customer experience the processes that result from this almost always end up with lower operating cost and greater employee satisfaction. They are better processes on multiple fronts.

Of course, it is up to us to act on the customer experience, to look at Moments of Truth so that we can understand what kind of experience we are really delivering to our customers and how those Moments of Truth may be affecting them.