I’m sure many of you have already seen this WestJet video. I would encourage you to take a few minutes a quickly watch it again. The rest of this article will make more sense if it is fresh in your mind.
There was some controversy towards WestJet after this video was posted. While stated in many different forms, the general message was the same, “Couldn’t the money be better spent for the poor and needy rather than these travelers?”
I would suggest that the reason this video touched so many of us and spread virally across the globe had very little to do with the money that was spent.
In fact, I would suggest that WestJet hit on a piece of humanity that many of us can feel, but not really make sense of in our head.
Research has shown us that there are six universal primary emotions. We know from extensive study that people across all cultures feel and experience these same six emotions.
One of those six, is surprise and delight.
Let’s look at things as they unfold and see how this concept of surprise and delight can help us to strengthen our own relationships.
The first thing WestJet did was have the passengers scan their boarding pass so that Santa could call them by name.
Consider what that meant to each of the passengers when Santa addressed them personally. Can you picture their faces lighting up in surprise and delight that they were known? When we remember people’s names and address them personally, we communicate that they matter, that they are seen.
The second thing that happens is that Santa engages with them.
He asks them questions and interacts with them personally. He cares about what they are saying and verbally responds to their comments, body language, and responses.
The last thing that happens, is that WestJet solidifies that these passengers are not just customers, but people.
As the packages come down the baggage claim, the passengers initially are confused, but quickly are filled with surprise and delight. Someone heard them. Someone responded.
It didn’t matter if the gift was a camera, or socks and underwear. Those people knew they were seen. They mattered. And that was communicated through surprise and delight. The money that was spent was not a means to just give people who already had a lot, more. The money that was spent was done so to demonstrate that people matter. We all are desperate to know that we are seen, regardless of our socio-economic status.
Through laughter and tears, these passengers demonstrated the emotion that accompanies surprise and delight, as well as the meaning that gets attached to the givers actions. The WestJet employees also demonstrated the joy and fulfillment that comes from providing others with surprise and delight and a confirmation that they matter.
Surprise and delight does not only get extended through money. Remember, it began with Santa calling them by name. We are surrounded with opportunities each day to offer others an opportunity to experience this powerful primary emotion. It comes as we see people as people. As we look for ways to express that they are seen and that they matter.
Some examples would include:
Making your partner their favorite treat
Offering to read your child one more story than usual before bedtime
Completing one of your partner’s or child’s normal household chores so they don’t have to
Leaving a note for your loved one to find when you are not around
Coming home early from work one day
Offering to put someone’s grocery cart away in the parking lot
Holding the door for someone
Learning the names of all of your employees, church members, and neighbors and calling them by name whenever you see them
I would encourage you to look for ways to incorporate more surprise and delight in your relationships. Remember the Platinum Rule in this situation though. Think of things that would bring surprise and delight to that person, not just what would bring surprise and delight to yourself.
What ideas do you have for including this idea as a way to strengthen your relationships?
Please share your ideas in the comment section below, so that we can have a long list of brainstorming ideas for all of us to benefit from.
