Nick Zeisler: Generalist reshaping the ‘box’
Your process consultant strides into the room and says ‘We’re going to do it the wrong way. And it will be right because it’s wrong.’
Huh? What.
This might be the discussion you have with Nick (or ‘Z’), all with a glint in his eye and a mischievous grin.
He trained for years on the specific tools of the trade and knows everything from Lean Six Sigma to scrum, process mapping, analytics, story-telling, and everything in between.
In one breath, he’ll teach you the theory and framework behind each tool. And in the next, he’ll explain why you might want to bend the principles a bit to fit the need of your business. Then he’ll encourage you to do it ‘wrong’.
Nick fell into being a ‘process guy’ while working his first corporate job. He saw several opportunities to make his own workflow better and pitched his boss on automation and efficiency solutions. Soon enough, that became his job.
His reputation as the ‘fix-it person’ led to a successful career in process consulting.
Where some might learn a single approach and complete thousands of process engineering projects, Nick took the approach of learning several tools and applying them in different contexts.
Although he was highly effective at finding solutions that drove efficiency and cost savings in the operations domain, his interest was piqued when someone asked him to apply his skillset to a customer experience problem.
This company wanted to make customer processes better from an external perspective. Z pulled out his process toolbox and evaluated how he might apply it in this new context.
It was like someone lit a fire under him. He saw how his approach could lead to better processes, efficiency, cost reduction AND happier customers! All at the same time.
This became his new passion, so much so that he wrote the book on it: We're Doing CX Wrong...And How To Get It Right (check it out here).
Meet Nicholas 🎙 Zeisler, Process Engineer, Teacher, and Entertainer.
In true generalist form, some days Nick is a fractional exec developing customer-centric solutions, and some days he is a professor explaining statistics to USAF cadets or inspiring students in the Michigan State Customer Experience Management program. You might also find him writing, hosting a podcast, or on stage regaling an audience.
The essence of his generalist-ism is that he isn’t afraid to bend the rules to find solutions that actually work across domains.
He offers this advice:
Success is grounded in being both humble and fearless. Say yes when opportunities come along. No one is going to ask you to do something because they think you can’t do it. If they see you succeeding, believe them and take a chance on yourself.
Join us in Breaking the Mold: Generalists Who Thrive in a Specialist's World as we explore real-life examples of generalists connecting dots, innovating, and solving problems.