Blue Dots Partners

What is the difference among Boeing, McDonald’s, Farmers Insurance Group, Pixar Animation Studios and Ford Motor Company? The answer might shock you: at a fundamental level, there is none. All five companies are in the exact same business with the exact same goal and purpose:

Let me say it again, as this is really important: there is one and only one business on this planet. Any company or enterprise, small or large, anywhere in the world, regardless of what problem is addressed, regardless of their business model, are all in the same business: to manufacture and deliver delight.

This is a matter of survival. Without it, decline into irrelevancy and death is certain.

• Boeing does it to its customers around the world. They design, manufacture and support civilian and military airplanes to airlines and governments around the world so that we can enjoy a safe, smooth and efficient ride at 35,000 feet above the ground covering thousands of miles at about 500 knots (575 mph).
• McDonald’s started in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald and today boosts about 37,000 locations around the world, delighting 69 million customers, young and old, every day, with their hamburgers, French fries, salads and milkshakes served in 100 countries from Beijing to Milan to Seattle.
• Farmers Insurance has been on a mission to deliver delight since 1928, serving more than 10 million households with 19 million individual policies across the United States.
• Pixar, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, continues to delight children and adults and make them dream. They trigger emotions and make us smile, laugh and cry. During the weekend of June 16, 2018, Pixar generated a record-setting $180 million at the domestic box office with the new release of Incredibles 2. This was the highest ever box office sales for an animated film, delighting 20 million kids and adults over a 48-hour period.
• Ford made 6.6 million people happy around the world in 2017, as they delivered brand new shiny Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Taurus and of course, the iconic Mustang.

If some level of delight were not delivered, all these companies would have been long gone. Delight is how they became iconic and pillars of American industry.

In the end, what the company does is not that relevant. What makes a company a great company is how delighted its customers truly are. This is the only real measure of success. The amount of delight translates into word-of-mouth, profitability, growth and the sustained creation of shareholder value.

At the end of the day, as the sun sets, every corporation, business, small or large, mom-and-pop or multinational, from New York, Shanghai or New Delhi is in the same business. They have to obsessively pursue the delivery of delight, satisfaction and happiness. Delight is to every business what oxygen is to every human being. Without it, life gets short and quite uncomfortable!

Now, I let you go back to manufacturing and delivering delight to your customers…