The following story about Spanish galleons may help to explain a fundamental problem in the hotel industry, namely, why the CEOs of the many hotel chains cannot see an alternative to the hotel industry’s over 300-year old, Newtonian frame of reference with its severely limiting paradigms and guest experience concept of SOP-Customer Satisfaction. The alternative, which could revolutionise the hotel industry and increase current revenue and guest loyalty, is all around them and inside them, but they are completely unaware of its existence. I will explain what I mean.
In the 1500’s Spanish galleons sailed along the coast of South America and discovered new cultures and civilisations. On one occasion, some ships landed at a place where Spanish ships had never been before in order to gather supplies to continue their journey.
They were met on the shore by indigenous people who had never seen white-skinned people and who had never been exposed to western technology. One of the first people to meet the Spanish was the shaman of the tribe, the tribe’s holy man. He met the Spanish as they came ashore in rowing boats, leaving their large ships some distance away from the beach.
However they communicated, the shaman asked them where they had just come from. The indigenous people had lived there for many years and they had never seen anyone like the Spanish. In whatever language the Spanish communicated they said that they had just come on the small rowing boats from the big ships with the canvas sails out on the sea. The shaman looked to where the Spanish were pointing, but he could not see the ships. The ships were of a pattern so foreign to him that he could not see them. They made no sense to his conscious recognition, and so he did not see them.
I think that this is happening in the hotel industry’s corporate offices where the CEOs cannot understand scientific discoveries about the nature of our world as well as concepts and paradigms which do not fit into their frame of reference and Newtonian worldview.
Hospitality could be revolutionised, if the CEOs could accept the energetic nature of the world and the spiritual essence of mankind. The energetic nature of human beings and of the environment around us has been proven, filmed, measured, and photographed by scientists since 1925, and it has led to the growth of branches of quantum science. It is even an integral part of many ancient cultures and traditions. But for the CEOs this “other world” is as invisible and non-existent as the ships off shore were to the indigenous people.
The shaman was fascinated by the fact that these people came from something, which he could not see. He worked with the idea for a few moments and then said that, if he squinted and looked out of the corner of one of his eyes, he could see something on the horizon. In a few moments he had taught himself how to see a pattern of matter, which he had never seen before.
Miles away in his village, the people did not have the same experience he had. But in a couple of days they benefitted from his experience because they were then able to see what was happening on the shore. They learned through his experience. This is called collective resonance.
Collective resonance means that every time a person responds in a new way to the challenges of life, or every time an individual chooses a new option, that person becomes a living bridge for everyone else to follow in that person’s path. The person has created a new template for others to use. The shaman on the shore chose to see a new way, and through collective resonance others benefitted from his experience.
In a similar, collective resonance way, when the first CEO becomes aware of the quantum world and of what it has to offer the hotel industry, other CEOs will also become aware of it. Once many CEOs become conscious of it, there will be a revolution in hospitality, and hospitality will rise to levels, which will make hoteliers feel embarrassed that they ever bought into the concept of SOP-Customer Satisfaction.
I think that the hotel industry CEOs are in a similar situation to that of the shaman when the Spanish came ashore. They are so used to a frame of reference embedded in the mechanistic Newtonian worldview that they cannot perceive or accept anything, which does not fit into this very deficient worldview.
Moreover, they seem to have had no exposure to the quantum worldview, which started to replace the Newtonian, Scientific-Materialist way of looking at the world as far back as 1925. Their current Newtonian worldview derives from the time of Descartes, Galileo, and Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century and early 18th century. This would explain why they cannot perceive or accept that the world and human beings are energetic and spiritual in nature.
Hotel conferences show that CEOs are looking for breakthrough ideas and concepts that will separate their hotel groups from the others, but because their worldview is very limited, the range of ideas they come up with are limited to those possible in and appropriate to that limited worldview.
The new direction nowadays is to create unique and authentic experiences and “stories” which create an emotional connection that resonates long after the guests’ stay is over. In order to provide this authenticity and to add meaning and fulfilment to the stay hotels are adapting their design, service offerings, and amenities; by sharing the details of their memorable amenities; by inviting the guests to participate in local traditions and culture; by telling the guests about how they are promoting sustainability; and by raising the quality of their service.
Even though these strategies have not proved effective in the battle, the CEOs discussing the problems seemed to be thinking: “But one day they will work. I’m sure they will. They’ve not worked in recent years, but one day they will!” If the CEOs were conscious of the quantum frame of reference, they might be able to come up with much more effective solutions to their problems.
Quality is not going to be the Saviour. Quality is the foundation of the industry’s now obsolete guest experience concept of SOP-Customer Satisfaction and has been the focus of hotels for many decades already. The inability of the CEOs to see another world of ideas and phenomena will lead to their downfall.
Hyatt is no different. They are excited because they have discovered empathy. Seemingly they are thinking: “This is the Next Big Thing! We know it is! It’s going to distinguish us from the rest of the hotel chains. Nobody has thought of it before.” But empathy is an integral part of SOP-Customer Satisfaction, or at least it should be. Perhaps corporate SOPs have become so spiritually barren and mechanical that even empathy was booted out long ago together with loving kindness, compassion, and energetic heart-warming care, which are the essential core values of genuine hospitality.
The CEOs seem to be so stuck in the Newtonian frame of reference of the Rut of Tradition that they have yet to become conscious of the quantum world, in particular, energy. They do not realise that everything is made of vibrating energy, including their own bodies. Everything in their hotels are different frequencies of vibrating energy. Every guest, every member of staff, every material object, every guest room, every guest facility, and every space is made of energy, which is vibrating at different frequencies. When they discover the existence of energy, they will have discovered the key to revolutionising hospitality, the key to increasing loyalty, and the key to beating the disruptors. But like the shaman when the Spanish arrived, they cannot see this key. This is so ironic because the key is literally closer to them than their life vein.
“New thinking is critical. Company culture is critical,” said David Kong, President and CEO of Best Western Hotels & Resorts at an international hotel conference. But where is the new thinking? Is focusing on improving quality and technology the extent of the new thinking? The truly invaluable new thinking will come when CEOs become conscious of the quantum world. Until then, we will just see a recycling of the so called best solutions, namely, new brands, new technology, new designs, new room amenities, new smells, new lobby layouts, new … The hotel industry is stuck, but nobody dares to say so. I call it “The Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome”.
Staying true to core values and brand identity was a common theme among the CEOs’ discussion at the hotel conference in question. But are their core values the right ones in view of the changing needs of human beings – needs, which include more and more emotional, energetic, healing, and wellbeing needs?
The main core values of the five hotel groups whose CEOs discussed this issue are: excellence, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, trust, accountability, fairness, impartiality, respect, thoughtfulness, passion, ambition, authenticity, sincerity, knowledge, understanding, attention to detail, craftsmanship of care, welcoming comfort, thoughtfulness, perfection, innovation, reliability, helpfulness, correctness, and teamwork. But will these core values help people with their emotional, energetic, healing, and wellbeing needs? Perhaps the core values suited hotels in the 20th century, but not anymore. Will they help the guests to feel the unconditional love and compassion, which they want to feel? I do not think so.
Where are the essential, spiritual core values of hospitality, i.e. loving kindness, compassion, and heart-warming care in the hotel chain mission and vision statements? Because none of them is mentioned on the websites of any of the leading hotel chains, it would appear that no CEO is even aware of the spiritual core values of the essence of hospitality. They are as invisible to the CEOs as the ships off shore were to the shaman.
Can you imagine a CEO saying: “From now on we will infuse every aspect of our hospitality with unconditional love, loving kindness, compassion, and the heart-warming care, which comes from a loving and compassionate heart!” Yet, unconditional love and compassion are key to meeting people’s emotional, energetic, healing, and wellbeing needs. Integrity, excellence, and other such core values are a given. They do not need to be mentioned. The key to creating loyalty and to dealing with the disruptors is to provide hospitality, which is dripping with unconditional love, compassion, kindness, and care from a loving and compassionate heart. But you cannot create that kind of hospitality with paradigms and concepts based in the obsolete Newtonian worldview. But then the CEOs are not conscious of the quantum worldview. It is quite a problem!
In 5 years, CEOs will still be trotting out the same worn-out ideas in the face of new disruptors and new challenges. How do I know? Because they have been recycling the same ideas for donkey’s years now. The ideas have not helped them much yet, but there is always the hope that by some miracle one of them will one day in the future. If you keep putting coins into a slot machine, you are bound to win something eventually.
Am I being too hard on the CEOs and corporate executives? I do not think so because even after many years of pointing out the ships off shore, they still cannot see them.
So, what is the solution? One solution would be to keep changing the CEOs until one comes along who can “see the ships”. But since they have all grown up in the current paradigms and frame of reference, this could take many years before one is found who will break the mould. But when one does come along eventually, collective resonance is likely to happen and hospitality will experience a much-needed revolution. I am still optimistic that this will happen in the next 20-30 years.
