The myth of starting fresh
Many organisations still frame customer-experience (CX) transformation as if it begins on a blank page — a new platform, a new journey, a new team. In reality, no transformation starts from scratch. Every firm carries forward a mix of systems, service routines, and inherited mindsets that already shape how customers experience it.
What the research shows
Across the firms I studied at the University of Cambridge, those that advanced furthest in CXM shared one trait: they worked with what already existed instead of trying to discard it. Transformation succeeded when leaders understood their current state of adoption — what we call their CXM Stage — and then applied implementations practices through the ACM framework of Attitudes, Capabilities, and Methods.
From leapfrogging to qualitative jumps
The idea of "greenfield" transformation sounds liberating but often leads to fatigue and fragmentation. CXMi reframes change as a series of qualitatively distinct progressions: mapping the present, defining the next attainable stage, and embedding the habits that make customer experience-centricity sustainable.
CX transformation isn't a one time project; it's a sequence of smaller, measurable steps that turn intent into capability where CX-centricity becomes muscle memory with continuous application of methods.