Chris Schembra's "Law of 1,000 Conversations", a brilliant article I highlighted in a Independence Day holiday post, couldn't come at a better time for CX leaders. His challenge to the 10,000-hour rule urges that we rethink everything about how we engage, lead, and support our people in an increasingly disconnected workplace — particularly considering AI's potential to further erode the human connections that actually drive performance.
Schembra's core insight: "What if the most profound measure of mastery isn't measured in hours of isolated repetition but in meaningful conversations?"
This is especially relevant when you consider Forrester's latest CX Index. Customer experience continues declining worldwide, with only 6% of brands improving while 21% got worse. In North America, CX hit an all-time low. Traditional thinking and prevailing approaches aren’t working.
The Connection Crisis in CX Operations
Here's what we see every day in customer experience operations:
We've focused heavily on efficiency initiatives, a trend gaining even more momentum with AI, while neglecting the human connections that research shows actually drive results:
The Strategic Engagement Problem
Most organizations hope meaningful connections will happen naturally. They won't. You need intentional mechanisms.
Schembra proved that 808 dinner conversations in one year delivered more leadership mastery than traditional education. In CX operations, we can't rely on chance encounters. We need structured approaches that:
✅ Create opportunities for cross-level interaction
✅ Build genuine relationships between leadership and frontline staff
✅ Engender holistic organizational alignment via strategic engagement frameworks
✅ Foster psychological safety through shared experiences
✅ Make connection measurable and sustainable
Gamification as Connection Strategy
This is why we developed A-GAME Leagues, using the same principle Schembra applied with his weekly dinners. He designed a systematic mechanism to facilitate connection rather than relying on chance encounters. We do the same thing, just in a contact center environment.
A-GAME Leagues isn’t just about heightening workforce awareness to key metrics or boosting motivation, it's about creating those meaningful conversations Schembra champions:
When Aucera (a ResultsCX company) implemented this comprehensive approach, they saw:
✅ Employee satisfaction: rose from 4.67 to 4.89/5 (vs. industry average of 3.85/5)
✅ First Call Resolution: improved from 79.76% to 86.95%
✅ Customer satisfaction: increased from 88% to 93%
✅ Attrition reduction: 36.5%
✅ Overall (balanced score) Performance: improved 41% across all KPIs
Perhaps most telling: the workforce is asking for exactly what this approach delivers. 84% of employees rated senior leader connection as critically important, while 72% reported increased motivation through the gamification experience. The benefits are being served on a silver platter — employees are craving connection, collaboration, and belonging. That it can be facilitated in a way that incorporates fun is icing on the cake. Think of gamification as a strategic engagement toolkit to advance human infrastructure with transformative potential far greater and more important than AI.
Think of gamification as a strategic engagement toolkit to advance human infrastructure with transformative potential far greater and more important than AI.
The Business Reality
As Schembra notes, human connection is economically transformative. In an era where AI handles routine interactions, human connection becomes your differentiation. The simple take-away; Organizations that intentionally cultivate relationships will outperform those that leave it to chance.
With customer experience declining industry-wide, the answer isn't just more technology or process optimization. Technology and AI will continue driving efficiencies and enhanced experiences, but their impact will be limited—and possibly counterproductive given historical trends—if we don't prioritize the human component with equal creativity, commitment, and investment. It's remembering that behind every customer interaction is a human being whose engagement and connection to purpose directly impacts the experience they deliver.
You can't hope your way to connection. You need strategic mechanisms that bring people together, especially across roles that don't naturally collaborate.
The question for CX leaders: What intentional systems are you using to foster the meaningful conversations that drive both employee engagement and customer experience excellence?
I can't say whether the TouchPoint One solution is the perfect fit for you, but I can tell you that you'd be hard pressed to find a vendor with as much experience effectively applying innovative game mechanics and other workforce engagement and performance management technologies to fix attrition, trust, and engagement challenges for customer contact organizations than TouchPoint One. And we're always up for the conversation, to learn, and to help CX leaders create a happier, higher performing workplace; whatever path is determined to be best.
Thanks for reading – and have an amazing week! 😁
Greg
