What if the biggest obstacle to improving your customer experience (CX) wasn’t a lack of tools but a lack of truth? Let’s explore what The Emperor’s New Clothes can teach us about leading CX.

The Hans Christen Anderson story is a strong lesson in organizational culture.

In The Emperor’s New Clothes, everyone in the kingdom pretends the Emperor’s invisible outfit is magnificent—afraid to tell the truth and risk being labeled foolish. The Emperor struts through the streets, unaware of the truth, until a child speaks up: “The Emperor has no clothes!”

An Emperor’s New Clothes culture is an organizational environment where people are unwilling or afraid to speak the truth about obvious problems, shortcomings, or failures.

Instead, they go along with illusions or misconceptions—often because of fear, pressure, or a desire to align with leadership.

Just like the swindlers that duped the king, beware of the CX swindlers.

• Empty metrics—Stop chasing a score. Challenge metrics that don’t drive change and show the value CX delivers to the business.
• Shiny new tool—Don’t chase the newest, flashiest technology and force fit it into the business. Ensure it aligns with long-term CX goals and operational realities.
• One-off initiatives—Avoid flashy, short-term campaigns designed for a quick buzz. While they might generate temporary excitement, they often fail to address the root causes of poor CX or are immediately forgotten for old habits.
• Siloism—Conflicting goals, poor communication, and lack of collaboration prevent you from aligning your customer experience strategy across departments.

Like the child who declares the Emperor is naked, CX leaders must be the child who speaks up to drive customer-focused thinking. They need to break the cycle of pretense and open the door to real progress. This requires courage to confront the status quo, question the effectiveness of current strategies, and prioritize honesty over comfort.

Feeling naked? We can help—𝗟𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸! 🗣️