Generally, I consider myself an optimist. A "glass is half full" kind of person. I presume the best intentions of people, leaders and organizations. Yet in fast succession this week, a few things happened that have me falling into the bottom half of the glass.

It’s fun to write about organizations that use strong customer experience to win a financial payoff (Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Zappos), yet there are lessons to be learned by taking a look at those who are struggling.

Apple is a company long renowned for its customer experience, and for inventing products that fill needs customer didn't even realize they had. Customers have rewarded Jobs and his crew for this. As an example, did you notice that the company sold 3 million iPads in 80 days?  Unlike many CEO's, Jobs had the pleasure of gushing a bit about second quarter financial peformance recently: “We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 percent and profits up 90 percent,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year.”

Now that BP's "Top Kill" effort has failed to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, I wonder if they'll take the advice offered up by Andy at the Borowitz Report -- and try plugging the leak with BP executives.

Scene: my office, 2pm today.  The phone rings. Them: "This is Tracy from AAA Imports. You recently had your Mercedes in for service, and I'm calling to ask how everything went for you."

I caught this new GM commercial last night.  Early in the spot I felt myself falling (as I’m sure GM hoped I would) for the tense-yet-exhilarating-and-optimistic mood conveyed by baseball and rally caps.  Then my ears really perked up when I heard the narrator say: