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Alex Gruhin's Agon Framework
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I’ve landed on a concept that was actually introduced to me by Gavin Kostick, who’s the literary manager at Fishamble: The New Play Company — a theatre company for new plays in Dublin, Ireland. Experience is AGON — the wrestling match between two forces that are dependent on one another in order to grow and progress towards a core truth or revelation. Gavin posits that agon, not conflict, is the root and driving force of all good drama. This is because conflict denotes discord and incompatibility, whereas agon signifies competition…which can be most engaging when two competing forces grapple in harmony. In fact, Gavin argues that the best stories involve two opposing sides that are evenly matched, hurling one another towards a climax and some sort resolution or revelation. A young lover cannot achieve his/her one true love unless that love makes them work to win it. A young quarterback cannot triumph unless he can overcome his opponent (the rival team? the demons in his head?). The pupil cannot ascend to mastery unless she can prove herself to the demanding tutor. Hell — even Sisyphus cannot make it up the mountain for all eternity without that damned boulder to push! None of these examples is necessarily rooted in conflict and yet all are storylines that have yielded some of the most compelling dramatic experiences in the canon.
So the ultimate goal of experience facilitators, in a pure context, is to enable a wrestling match that moves both competing forces forward and sustains the pursuit of the mission / core truth. In the context of customer experience, the agon is between brand and consumer...and it has been made incredibly complicated over the last several years as the paradigm has shifted such that customers generally have the upper hand in the wrestling match and not brands (vs. years previous when it was the other way around) because they have SO MUCH CHOICE.
I help business and creative leaders regain the upper hand by innovating on their brands.
So the ultimate goal of experience facilitators, in a pure context, is to enable a wrestling match that moves both competing forces forward and sustains the pursuit of the mission / core truth. In the context of customer experience, the agon is between brand and consumer...and it has been made incredibly complicated over the last several years as the paradigm has shifted such that customers generally have the upper hand in the wrestling match and not brands (vs. years previous when it was the other way around) because they have SO MUCH CHOICE.
I help business and creative leaders regain the upper hand by innovating on their brands.
