Last Saturday, we’d planned to visit two exhibitions, one in Kensington High Street, the other at King’s Cross. This would involve a little bit of jiggery pokery on the tubes at the best of times, but on Saturday, planned engineering works and unplanned signal failures played havoc with the system.

So we walked quite a bit further than we’d intended, through a part of the city we hadn’t been in for a while.

I’m so glad we did.

Because by taking the less straightforward route we discovered Jamboree. A world music venue near King’s Cross.*

We walked in, in search of a cup of tea, and found a circle of folk musicians jamming.

It might just be my new favourite place. A perfect replacement for the much-missed Vintage Emporium in Bacon Street.

Refreshment and delight, both physical and mental, found by taking the long way round.

A reminder that detours can be delightful.

The point?

Your customer experience processes should cover the most likely eventualities. But it’s impossible to design for every one of them. So don’t try.

It is possible to ensure all detours are delightful. Even unexpected ones.

Especially if you put humans in charge, with your Promise clear in their heads and hearts.

Put your effort into doing that instead.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

*They do an Argentinian Tango Tuesday!