Ink Stain is very excited to release ifculture.com's 3rd issue...
Jesse Engineering, in Tacoma, Washington, is one of the few remaining companies making a profit by engineering massive things out of steel. There is no assembly line here, everything Jesse Engineering builds is custom: Massive round modules for the jostle-free carrying of spy satellites, entire bridges, docks and ramps; a massive steel washer for a pulp mill designed to save millions of gallons of water; a degausser (demagnetizer) for a nuclear submarine--all steel behemoths weighing up to 600 tons and fitted together like something between a choreographed chorus-line kick and a precision Swiss watch.
In a pressurized place like Jesse Engineering, it's easy to see why:
Resentments were rampant. Emotional shut-downs led to the destruction of what the leaders cared most about providing, the ability for the Jesse Engineering team to have hope and to have the emotional freedom to tell the truth. One leader, Jeffrey Geller, had a goal to provide people an emotionally safe place to work. Within that safe arena, he would find and cultivate Jesse Engineering's next wave of leaders.
Moe Carrick, who worked with Jesse Engineering for ten years and gave me the emotional and intellectual foundation for this article had a simple request:
Moe was well aware of how easy "wilderness adventures" paint a picture that leads people to believe all problems in a company culture are solved with a simple "day outing."
"Joseph, please make sure that your article doesn't make it look like true culture change is a rafting trip," Moe asked me when I began writing.
Her request was an important one because of certain magazine articles that portray a wilderness engagement as a 'fun outing' where people bond, slap each other a high-five and grab a beer at the end of the day--magazine articles that are filled with "splashy", glossy images of boatloads of people conquering nature for a day. As if we need more of that.
At the heart of Moe Carrick's request was the knowledge that true culture change happens through many engagements that get to the heart of problems. It takes time to accomplish culture change. And most all, the rafting trips are only catalysts to something much bigger...
ifculture.com is the web magazine that brings you timely short stories about leaders who excel as models of culture-based leadership success. Read the Jesse Engineering story...
Jesse Engineering, in Tacoma, Washington, is one of the few remaining companies making a profit by engineering massive things out of steel. There is no assembly line here, everything Jesse Engineering builds is custom: Massive round modules for the jostle-free carrying of spy satellites, entire bridges, docks and ramps; a massive steel washer for a pulp mill designed to save millions of gallons of water; a degausser (demagnetizer) for a nuclear submarine--all steel behemoths weighing up to 600 tons and fitted together like something between a choreographed chorus-line kick and a precision Swiss watch.
In a pressurized place like Jesse Engineering, it's easy to see why:
Resentments were rampant. Emotional shut-downs led to the destruction of what the leaders cared most about providing, the ability for the Jesse Engineering team to have hope and to have the emotional freedom to tell the truth. One leader, Jeffrey Geller, had a goal to provide people an emotionally safe place to work. Within that safe arena, he would find and cultivate Jesse Engineering's next wave of leaders.
Moe Carrick, who worked with Jesse Engineering for ten years and gave me the emotional and intellectual foundation for this article had a simple request:
Moe was well aware of how easy "wilderness adventures" paint a picture that leads people to believe all problems in a company culture are solved with a simple "day outing."
"Joseph, please make sure that your article doesn't make it look like true culture change is a rafting trip," Moe asked me when I began writing.
Her request was an important one because of certain magazine articles that portray a wilderness engagement as a 'fun outing' where people bond, slap each other a high-five and grab a beer at the end of the day--magazine articles that are filled with "splashy", glossy images of boatloads of people conquering nature for a day. As if we need more of that.
At the heart of Moe Carrick's request was the knowledge that true culture change happens through many engagements that get to the heart of problems. It takes time to accomplish culture change. And most all, the rafting trips are only catalysts to something much bigger...
ifculture.com is the web magazine that brings you timely short stories about leaders who excel as models of culture-based leadership success. Read the Jesse Engineering story...
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