Orbiting The Giant Hairball

Gordon MacKenzie’s Orbiting the Giant Hairball is a fun, thought-provoking look at creativity in the workplace. Drawing on his decades at Hallmark Cards, MacKenzie weaves together quirky stories and insightful lessons about igniting innovation while navigating the tangled web of corporate bureaucracy. It’s odd and energizing, one of those rare books that makes you see things differently.

Top 3 Takeaways

Orbit, Don’t Reside: True creativity thrives when you orbit the “giant hairball” of corporate norms, avoiding entanglement while staying close enough to influence and stay connected.

Embrace Your Weirdness: Innovation often comes from embracing unconventional ideas and resisting the pull of conformity. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo.

Responsible Creativity: Innovation must balance bold, creative solutions with ethical and sustainable practices. CX leaders are uniquely positioned to ensure that strategies prioritize customer trust, employee well-being, and long-term organizational goals.

MacKenzie’s creation of the Humor Workshop shows how collaboration can spark creativity. When the purchasing department questioned his use of quirky milk cans, he and a colleague worked with them to classify the cans as antiques for the company’s art collection. The solution met everyone’s needs, and as MacKenzie reflected, “Any time a bureaucrat (e.g., a custodian of the system) stands between something you need or want, your challenge is to help that bureaucrat discover a means, harmonious with the system, to meet your need.”

Relevance to CX Leaders

The book offers valuable lessons for CX leaders aiming to foster innovation and navigate organizational structures:

Creativity as a CX Differentiator: Standout customer experiences come from balancing innovation with the human touch, addressing the needs of customers, employees, and partners alike. Never forget the problem you’re solving and who you’re solving it for.

Embracing the concept of Orbiting the Giant Hairball allows CX leaders to inspire meaningful change by finding a balance between structure and creativity, empowering innovation without losing sight of core values.

Understanding the needs and processes of other departments, like finance or marketing, is key for CX leaders. By listening and collaborating, you can uncover solutions that work for everyone.

How PodiumCX Leverages the Concepts of Orbiting the Giant Hairball

At PodiumCX, we help organizations strike the balance MacKenzie advocates: maintaining alignment with strategic goals while allowing flexibility to innovate. Every consulting engagement begins with our commitment to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes”, interviewing and working cross-functionally to gain the broadest perspective on stakeholders’ wants, needs, and fears. By deeply understanding their unique challenges and aspirations, we nurture creativity in human-centered design workshops, empowering teams to develop bold ideas firmly grounded in actionable strategies aligned with organizational priorities.

MacKenzie’s inspiring lessons remind us of the value of creativity in every facet of business, especially in delivering exceptional customer experiences. Like a cyclist navigating the dynamics of a chaotic peloton, CX leaders must focus on understanding the course, mastering the race rules, and working strategically with their team to survive and ultimately win the race, in other words, to deliver value to stakeholders.

Visit www.podiumcx.com to see how we can help tailor a customer experience strategy that drives results for your organization.

PodiumCX, LLC, 2025. All rights reserved.

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