The Power of Moments

The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact is a 2017 nonfiction business book by Chip and Dan Heath. It is based on the idea that people remember the most impactful moments in their lives, and it teaches readers to identify and create these moments for personal and professional success.

The book begins by laying out the basic premise of the argument. The authors use behavioral research examples to show that, when recalling an experience, people usually only remember the best or worst moment (the “peak”) and the end. They suggest that some moments are more meaningful than others, and that defining moments in our lives are those that are both memorable and meaningful. A defining moment has at least one of the following characteristics: elevation, insight, pride, or connection.

Then the authors invite the reader to think of their defining moments, those that made a change in their life. Defining moments occur naturally during transitions, milestones, and pits (the opposite of peaks). This theory is then applied to customer service. The book argues that, when faced with a negative customer experience, your first priority should be to fill the pits. However, after that you need to focus on creating peaks—that is, memorable positive experiences.



One of the ways to do this is to break the script, to break the conventions of how a conversation will go. The book uses the examples of funny flight announcements, which have been shown to increase repeat customers, and food stores that allow employees to give away some free food and drink. Breaking the script elevates the situation and creates a defining moment.

Next, the authors discuss how insight comes from action and not thought. You will never see your mistakes, as an individual or an organization, if you do not try things and fail at them. Moments of insight are incredibly useful, and they can be engineered to happen when you want them to.

The next key characteristic of a defining moment, pride, is discussed next. The best way to create moments of pride in others is to offer recognition, which creates a positive experience for them. There is also evidence that expressing gratitude for others provides a rush of happiness for yourself, so the benefits of pride go both ways.



Milestones offer another way to create pride in others. However, in order to be effective, milestones have to be identified and celebrated. The more you do this (i.e., the more milestones you offer), the more motivated your team will be as their goal is divided into smaller, more achievable goals with the rush of a milestone celebration at the end.

While recognition and milestones help achieve pride in others, the best way to create pride in yourself is to practice courage. When we do something we are afraid of, we feel a sense of pride that can be a defining moment for the way we see ourselves. We can also apply what we have learned from milestones to our lives, dividing our personal goals into smaller ones with significant milestones.

The next chapter focuses on the importance of shared meaning to group cohesion. We naturally seek shared meaning when in groups, and managers can bring teams together to experience meaningful moments by creating a sense of purpose. Purpose is one of the most important factors in an employee’s performance, and there is research to show that purpose is not an inherent characteristic; it is cultivated by good managers and organizations.



Moments of connection are another way in which people bond, both at work and in their personal relationships. These moments are born out of responsiveness, the idea that someone understands you, reflects your values, and cares for you in proactive ways. Employees who feel like people care about them in their organization feel a deeper connection with their role and perform better. Managers can create moments of connection by creating synchronized moments, inviting shared struggle, or connecting to meaning (or purpose).

Finally, the book covers how to find positive moments in negative situations. It suggests looking for small peaks where they can be found, celebrating and honoring relationships with those around you, acknowledging your own strength, identifying new possibilities, and looking for spiritual insight.

Throughout the book, Chip and Dan Heath use research from the field of organizational behavior, a school of business that seeks to understand why people act like they do within organizations and how this information can be leveraged to increase performance. Their focus on small moments offers a new perspective on organizational behavior, one that is easily actionable by managers looking to make a difference in their teams. For this reason, the book was a New York Times best seller upon its release. The authors have cowritten numerous other books, including Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions (2001), Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (2007), and Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (2010).