The Popsicle Hotline

What is the Popsicle Hotline? And what might it offer us as we think about our work, both with external clients and internal colleagues?

The Magic Castle Hotel in Los Angeles has found a way to stand out from the crowd of a busy LA hotel scene. It’s not an upscale hotel by any means, and can’t compete with the glitz and glamor that so many other hotels in its area can. As Chip Heath, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business describes it, the hotel is “actually a converted two-story apartment complex from the 1950s, painted canary yellow… [with] a pool that might qualify as Olympic size, if the Olympics were being held in your backyard.” But it’s consistently listed as one of the top hotels in LA, without a lot of the fanciness you might expect for such a high ranking. Why? They have found a unique way to live up to the magic of their name, becoming world famous in the process. Perhaps you’ve heard of it: the Popsicle Hotline.

A red landline phone hanging on a wall overlooking the outdoor pool, the Popsicle Hotline is a direct line to a hidden location. A guest can place a call at any time, and in response, an employee in butler attire (including white gloves) walks to the pool area to deliver the requested popsicle on a silver platter, at no additional charge.

Naturally, the (minimal) cost of this is built into the hotel’s standard rates, but as you can imagine, this one magical moment is the thing that stands out in any hotel guest’s memories for years to come. Guests memories of the beds, or rooms, or other hotel norms will likely be forgotten over time, but the Popsicle Hotline is the story that they will tell friends for years to come.

Chip Heath – quoted above – and his brother Dan Heath, speaker and fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, wrote about the Popsicle Hotline in their book The Power Of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact. In the book, they outline four types of defining moments that bring a lasting impact, each of which has something to offer teams: Elevation, Insight, Pride, and Connection. The Popsicle Hotline is a great example of an Elevation Moment – something that transcends ordinary experiences, and creates a lasting and special memory. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that it does so by building some idiosyncrasy credit! As I told challenge course participants as they were about to climb the 40-foot telephone pole to leap off it earlier this week, the nervousness and excitement they were feeling was a sign that this isn’t something they do every day – in more ways than one, that is an Elevation Moment.

We’ll revisit the other types of defining moments in future pieces, but for now, what could the Popsicle Hotline and the idea of Elevation Moments offer you and your team?

This Week’s Tips:

• For your work with your team and colleagues: Consider what experiences could be Elevation Moments for those you work with. This might be a one-time off-site experience that honors them and brings some magic to their day. It could also be an ongoing ‘treat’ that comes uniquely from you – something you provide each person that makes their week a little easier (this could even be tailored to each person if you’ve been able to get to know them on a more personal level – somebody might love a fancy coffee drink, someone else might love a handwritten personal note).
• For your team’s work with others, internally and externally: Discuss with your team what your Popsicle Hotline equivalent could be. What might help your team stand out in someone’s memory beyond being professional and reliable? Take some time to have a generative discussion, and encourage ideas over time; if you invite ideas, the best ones may come a few days from now, a month from now, or even beyond. Get the conversation started, though, and ask others to help revisit it over time.

Try these out this week, and let us know how it goes! We’d love to hear from you.

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