The 12th Journal Club at Venture Center Library marks a year of thinking, linking and looking at familiar ideas a little differently.
Twelve sessions, a year of ideas
Over twelve sessions, Venture Center Library’s Think and Link – Link and Think has brought ideas from science, technology, business and innovation into conversations that extend beyond the page. Held on 23 October 2026, the 12th Journal Club marked a year of exploring what familiar ideas can reveal when viewed from a different perspective.
Leading this milestone session was Dr. Pritha Mukherjee, Head of R&D at Exsure. A cancer biologist whose research journey spans India, Canada and the United States, Dr. Mukherjee has worked on cancer stem cells, the tumour microenvironment and stem-cell-derived neuronal models. Her current work in exosome biology and regenerative biotechnology bridges scientific discovery and real-world applications. For this session, she brought the group to a question at the intersection of business and human behaviour: what makes an experience one we simply appreciate, and what makes it one we love?
Beyond the satisfactory
The discussion centred on Marcus Buckingham’s What Companies Can Learn from Their Biggest Fans, published in Harvard Business Review. The article challenges organisations to look beyond fixing what is broken and pay closer attention to what people already love.
Buckingham argues that the relationship between experience and outcomes is not necessarily linear. Improving an experience that is merely satisfactory may not have the same impact as creating one that feels exceptional. The distinction matters: organisations often concentrate on reducing complaints and correcting shortcomings, yet the absence of dissatisfaction does not automatically create loyalty, advocacy or engagement.
The article’s idea of love is less about grand gestures than about how an experience makes someone feel. An employee might love the team they work with; an airline attendant might relish the challenge of winning over each flight; a customer might appreciate a deli manager who remembers exactly how thin they like their meat sliced. These moments have something in common: they make people feel understood and more fully themselves.
Five conditions, one experience
Buckingham identifies five conditions that can help create experiences people love: control, harmony, significance, warmth and growth. Control gives people clarity and choice. Harmony allows them to feel emotionally safe. Significance means their preferences, identity and contributions are recognised. Warmth assures them that someone is there to help. Growth leaves them more capable than when they arrived. Together, these conditions form the basis of what the article calls experience intelligence—the ability to deliberately design experiences around what matters to people.
The examples brought the framework to life. At Kroger, listening to loyal customers revealed that familiar faces and small acts of help mattered deeply. Changes included grocery carry-out assistance, clearer staff identification and a more welcoming store environment. The article reports improvements in team engagement, employee turnover, cleanliness, associate friendliness and customer satisfaction, illustrating how attention to everyday experiences can have wider organisational implications.
Disney’s Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run offered another perspective. Pilots had more agency than the gunners and engineers, making participation less meaningful for some visitors. Redesigning the experience to give those roles greater purpose showed how even a carefully constructed attraction can become better by considering how different people experience it.
The presentation also examined Sun Bum, a sunscreen brand that built its identity around surf and skate culture rather than trying to appeal to everyone. From its distinctive gorilla mascot to community participation and relationships with sellers, the brand demonstrated how shared identity can foster connection. Even its message—use sunscreen, even if it is not ours—placed the wider purpose ahead of a single purchase.
The question beyond the framework
Across these examples, one idea remained clear: experiences are shaped not only by what organisations provide, but by whether people feel involved, recognised and supported. Sometimes, the smallest details make the difference between an interaction that works and one that stays with us.
Yet the meaning of these conditions can shift depending on the relationship. A customer might appreciate a café worker remembering their coffee order; an employee might value recognition while also wanting privacy, autonomy and clear professional boundaries. A workplace can be meaningful without becoming the centre of someone’s identity, and a supportive team need not demand personal attachment.
Perhaps this is where the conversation becomes especially interesting. The pursuit of better experiences is valuable in itself, but must every good experience inspire love? As Think and Link – Link and Think completes its first year, the Journal Club leaves room for precisely these questions: not simply how to apply an idea, but how to examine its possibilities and limits.
If love makes an experience exceptional, can we create experiences people genuinely value without expecting them to love them?
The ideas explored at Journal Club are an invitation to keep reading, questioning and making new connections. Visit the Venture Center Library to discover your next thought-provoking read, browse our collection through KOHA, and join the Venture Center Library WhatsApp channel to stay connected with new books, library updates and upcoming sessions. Because every good question can lead to another.