![Three people with microphones and headphones are shown under the title “[Un]Churned,” part of the Gainsight Podcast Network, hosted by CS leader Josh Schachter. Vertical light bars shine in the background as mindful tips for success are shared.](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgMTIwMCA2MDAiIHdpZHRoPSIxMjAwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjYwMCIgeG1sbnM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzIwMDAvc3ZnIj48L3N2Zz4=)
Scott Barker helped scale Outreach from $20 million to $250 million ARR, raised $100 million for his own venture fund, and then had a panic attack. He sold everything he owned, put what was left in a backpack, and spent four months in Indian ashrams before writing an article that went viral.
On a recent episode of the [Un]Churned podcast, Scott joined host Josh Schachter and co-host Jenny Calvert to share how the habits many Customer Success (CS) leaders see as luxuries are actually what will help them last in this new AI era.
The Gainsight 2025 CS Index, based on data from over 400 CS professionals, found that CS leaders are being asked to support more customers, use AI to scale, and show clear revenue impact, all without growing their teams. Each time AI speeds things up, expectations rise. What used to be excellent is now just average. Scott chose to accelerate in his own way, but this time, no one gets to choose.
Here are three practices he shared on the episode to help you stay grounded as the pace keeps increasing.
Key Takeaways
- The two-week depth practice helps you develop original thinking that AI can’t match. Pick one tough question and spend two weeks exploring it without worrying about producing anything at the end.
- The six-hour silence block helps clear the mental clutter that builds up from constant input. Most people find the first three hours difficult.
- Many CS leaders still follow a definition of success they set at 22. Writing it down and comparing it to how you actually spend your time is one of the most valuable audits you can do as a leader.
1. Do a Two-Week Depth Practice
While AI can quickly cover a lot of ground, depth and original thinking remain valuable and rare. Scott suggests picking one tough question and spending two weeks exploring it, without aiming for a specific outcome. There’s no need for a framework, blog post, or presentation. Just stay curious.
The question you choose can be about work or your personal life. For example:
- What is your team’s true potential in the next 18 months?
- What does retention really need that your current model misses?
- What is attention worth in an AI economy?
The goal isn’t just to find an answer. It’s to build the habit of thinking slowly enough for original ideas to surface, the opposite of the immediate gratification that comes from a prompt.
For CS leaders, this is especially important. Customer Success involves understanding customers, maintaining relationships under stress, and making decisions without all the information. These skills need slow, thoughtful thinking, which is hard to develop if you’re always taking in new information.
Scott shares more ways to build this kind of practice in The Wake Up Call.
2. Try a Six-Hour Silence Block
Choose an afternoon and set aside six hours. Spend that time in silence with no talking, reading, writing, or taking in any new information. Scott makes it clear this isn’t a time for thinking through problems. The goal is simply to clear your mind.
Most people find the first three hours tough, and that’s normal. Scott points out that Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens, spends three months in silence each year to write books that require, as he says, “pretty high-order thinking.”
For CS leaders who spend their days handling complex issues for customers and teams, the silence block is more of a mental reset than a wellness exercise. The information you take in each week adds up, and this is one way to clear it out.
If six hours isn’t realistic, even two hours of genuine silence can provide something most people never give themselves. Scott’s practical advice is that consistency matters more than perfection.
3. Audit Your Definition of Success
Most people start working at 18 or 20 and create their first real idea of success. Over the next decade, they usually just scale it up. They add a zero, get a bigger title, or manage a larger team, but the basics rarely change.
The exercise is simple. Write down your current definition of success, then write down where you actually spend your attention. If those two don’t match, that’s the gap to close. Don’t work harder within your old definition; check whether it’s still the right one.
Speed is now a commodity, and AI can give it to anyone. What it can’t give you is the stillness required to figure out whether you’re running in the right direction. If you invest in AI but not in yourself, you may reach burnout sooner than you think.
Hear More From CS Leaders on What’s Actually Working
Each week on the [Un]Churned podcast, host Josh Schachter talks with post-sales leaders about retention, expansion, and the move to AI-powered CS. Listen to the full episode with Scott Barker and subscribe to the [Un]Churned Substack for weekly deep dives sent to your inbox.
