PEAK, 2nd Edition

Chapter SevenCreating Satisfaction

Every major industry was once a growth industry. But some that are now riding a wave of growth enthusiasm are very much in the shadow of decline. Others that are thought of as seasoned growth industries have actually stopped growing. In every case, the reason growth is threatened, slowed, or stopped is not because the market is saturated. It is because there has been a failure of management…. The railroads did not stop growing because the need for passenger and freight transportation declined. That grew. The railroads are in trouble today not because that need was filled by others (cars, trucks, airplanes, and even telephones) but because it was not filled by the railroads themselves. They let others take customers away from them because they assumed themselves to be in the railroad business rather than in the transportation business.

Theodore Levitt, Harvard professor and author¹

Those who have spent any time in the Joie de Vivre orbit know that we like to celebrate. In fact, the first time I walked into the courtyard of what was to become The Phoenix, my initial reaction was, “What an amazing spot to throw a party!” Just four months after I bought the sorry hotel and we'd slapped a bunch of paint and glitter on the place, we welcomed our first guests and celebrated with a fabulous grand opening party.

It was truly an underground event ...