Scope Creep

It began as a seductive business philosophy, a gospel preached in lecture halls and airport bookstores: surprise and delight your customer. Go above and beyond. But a historical look at the service economy reveals a darker story, one of funerals for profit margins disguised as launch parties. For decades, creative agencies, consultancies, and B2B firms have followed this retail-born orthodoxy, believing that unbilled over-delivery builds loyalty. They willingly give away their most precious resource—time—chasing a psychological high that the data proves is commercially worthless. Why does this myth persist, even as it bankrupts countless businesses? Scope Creep excavates the origins of this toxic idea, tracing it from Tom Peters in the 1980s to the flawed application of the Zappos and Ritz-Carlton models. Author Carla Estevez presents the landmark research of Matthew Dixon, which proved that exceeding expectations has a negligible impact on loyalty. The book chronicles the radical, margin-protecting strategies of companies like Design Pickle and BBDO, who discovered that profitability lies not in accommodation, but in rigid boundaries. This investigation uncovers the precise operational frameworks and psychological shifts required to stop bleeding profit and reclaim control from clients who keep asking.