LET'S GET DOWN TO BASICS

Over nearly four decades, we have contributed to an effort to understand how breakthrough services are created and led. We have observed hundreds of service practitioners at work and attempted to make sense of what we've observed. This effort has produced ideas that have, in the past, gained widespread application. However, changes in such things as the composition of the workforce, new technologies, and customers' expectations and behaviors can affect the applicability of these ideas. In chapter 2 we examine the effects of these changes and address ways in which great service leaders shape service strategies that deliver results.