Excelerate

People. Process. Technology. Everyone knows the triangle—but too often, people get treated like a rollout step instead of a strategic force.   Whether it’s ERP, CRM, ATS, HRIS, WMS, OMS, PLM—or whatever acronym is driving your digital acceleration—success doesn’t hinge on the system. It hinges on how well you prepare the people expected to use it.   According to Gartner: -74% of leaders say they involve employees in shaping change -Only 42% of employees actually feel included That disconnect says it all.   🔹 Perception isn’t participation Telling people about change isn’t the same as making them part of it.   🔹 Ownership changes the game When employees help plan implementation, success rates jump by 24%.   🔹 Inclusion isn’t passive Real inclusion means co-creating the change—not reacting to it.   Bottom line: Change doesn’t stick because you announce it. It sticks because people help shape it. Inclusion isn’t a feel-good extra—it’s how you get results that last. #GoFasterSmarter

2️⃣“As Leaders, we don’t just do what we’re told.” We are passionate about leadership: Enterprise thinkers with a flexible, fully formed point of view that positions us to see what others might miss. Anybody can show up and do what they’re told—shake the right hands, check the right boxes, and provide the expected deliverables. But for Excelerators, part of serving our clients is challenging assumptions, bringing a different perspective for them to consider, and digging a couple levels deeper to uncover a problem’s root.  Sometimes, the best way to support a client isn’t to align to their assumptions and follow their lead but to humbly suggest another direction, to come in as a leader who is ready to serve. #Excelerators #EnterpriseThinking

We’re still energized from X4 2025—people-centric conversations and solutions get to the heart of who we are as consultants. As we reflect on the key lessons and how they will help us better drive client success, here are our top three takeaways: 1️⃣Brands should follow Taylor Swift’s example and EMPOWER their customer. Unsurprisingly, the woman who can do it all has something to teach us about customer experience, namely that brands must shift from satisfying their customers to delighting them and ultimately empowering them. Nobody does this better than Taylor Swift, the Queen of CX (h/t Ken Hughes). She spent decades investing in her brand’s CX along nine traits (authenticity, intimacy, belonging, vulnerability, collaboration, purpose, delight, appreciation, and time together). Brands should take a page out of her playbook and implement these core values to enhance their CX. 2️⃣AI has made its way into CX and is here to stay. Companies are finding new ways to improve customer experience by leveraging Generative AI to enhance survey responses and Agentic AI to enhance the customer journey. Said simply, the Age of AI is here to stay and companies need to lean into their curiosity and give employees the freedom to experiment (with the proper security and privacy guard rails, of course!) 3️⃣Everybody is seeking connections, and brands must provide them for their employees and customers. Employees who embody their company’s values are the first link in a connected chain that ends with loyal customers, a strong brand, and increased profitability. To capitalize on this, companies should develop values and heuristics their employees can strive towards along with marketing messages centered around customer promises. #X4 #X4Summit #Qualtrics #CX

So great to represent Excelerate at USD’s Grad Expo last Friday! It was such a pleasure to meet the next generation of business leaders, to share what makes Excelerate so special, and, for many of us, to spend some quality time at our alma mater. Thanks to everybody who attended!

What a wonderful time we had at the Blazers game last night, full of great discussions, top notch company, and a Blazers victory! Thanks to everybody who came out and to the Moda Center for making us feel so welcome.

Last night, our CEO Jana De Anda participated in a fireside chat about Accelerating Action for gender equality in the workforce where she reflected on her career journey, her experiences raising her daughter, and her hopes for future generations. Thanks so much to Idara O. and Ashley Hayslip for hosting such an inspiring and insightful event. Three of the many takeaways from last night: 1️⃣Everybody benefits from confident women in the workforce. Building that confidence isn’t just about lifting women up but also driving better outcomes for all of us. 2️⃣Sharing stories with one another is a powerful community building tool that fosters support through shared experiences. 3️⃣It’s difficult to navigate your career without a woman in leadership to look up to. One way to accelerate action, then, is to lead by example—to be the woman somebody can point to when they’re asked, “Who’s a great leader you’ve had in your life?”

Leaders often focus on the ways Business Process Optimization brings efficiency to their workforce but can fail to see how they themselves could also benefit. Consider that 70% of C-Suite Executives report spending between 10% and 40% of their workday completing mundane and repetitive tasks (KRC Research), keeping them from the work that drives results. Business Process Optimization is not always a selective top-down initiative—it is oftentimes an opportunity to reevaluate processes and drive efficiency where it is most needed. #GoFasterSmarter

1️⃣“Get curious. We learn so that we can do. Greatness waits for nobody.” Curiosity gets right to the core of who we are. It requires humility—about what we already know and what we have yet to learn—and it is the indispensable first step in learning. Maintaining that openness keeps us one step ahead, always ready to probe deeper, to not stop until we get to the root of the question, not just its simple answer. When people lose their curiosity, they tether themselves to the surface and that is an untenable place for us. We get and stay curious so that we can learn and then excel because greatness waits for nobody. #Excelerators #EnterpriseThinking 

Customer Experience is King! In a year in which brand loyalty is expected to decline 25%, mostly due to price (Forrester), it’s important to remember that 79% of customers would switch to a competing brand if it offered a better customer experience. In fact, consumers are nearly 10% likelier to go out of their way to pursue a superior customer experience this year than last (Hyken). CX isn’t just icing on the cake—for many customers, it’s the most important part of the meal. #ExcelerateCX

Clients often ask us how we build a roster of smart, hardworking, and personable consultants—how do we consistently produce Enterprise Thinkers who don’t buckle under pressure? There are a few answers to that question, but a big part of identifying the right candidate comes down to our simulated business cases. You see, after advancing to the final round of interviews, every prospective Excelerator must engage in a 3-hour business case with members of our evaluation team. How does the candidate behave in a setting that most closely resembles a client interaction? How do they connect with their audience? How do they explain their proposed solution? Is it clear? In the end, only half of the applicants who advance to the final stage are offered seats at the Excelerate table. Why do we do it? Because we prioritize grit over pedigree, because smarts can only get you so far in this business, and because we won’t know how well somebody can walk through the fire without putting them in the hotseat. #Excelerators #EnterpriseThinking