Community, what is it good for?

12 Apr

admin |  April 12th,2011 | A Young Entrepreneurs Blog |  Comments Off

Community is something that most everyone can agree holds a fair amount of significance. As a society, we’ve created areas (YMCA, Community Centers, etc) in hopes to foster community, but how exactly is “community” defined, and what importance does it really hold for those of us who are not typically involved in community activities?

We are all a part of several communities. People we frequently engage with at work, our friends we hang out with after our daily shift and the groups we associate with for leisure activities or job related, are all communities we engage in regularly.

In its simplest form, community is a group of individuals united behind a common interest. Even your neighbors, whom you may share nothing in common, are also a part of your community, and in ways greater than just a close physical presence. Together, you share an interest in a safe neighborhood, roads and sidewalks that are acceptable for evening strolls, and schools that prove to be a solid stepping stone for your child’s future.

In the heart of Silicon Valley, we, more so than most other areas of the US, are battling the growing disconnect of community and an increasing sense of isolation. Here, at the birthplace of so many great technological advances, we have become subject to both the positive and negative outcomes of our progress. In no way does this mean that our work is causing more harm than good. Rather, like the positive, we need to prepare to encounter the negative effects technology is having on our lives.

“A machine has value only as it produces more than it consumes – so check your value to the community.” –Martin Fischer

Community can be thought of quite similar to a pre-established Employee Value Proposition (EVP). An EVP is a term used to describe the benefits employees receive for professional performance. If your performance at work is sub-par and low, chances are you won’t be receiving any benefits, and more than likely sent home with letter of termination. Like your company, the less you put into your community, the lower your valuation to the community becomes, and fewer are the rewards you receive. Thankfully your community is probably more forgiving than your employer. However, unlike your employer, the value you reap from sowing your community is not always as blatant as receiving a paycheck. At the same time, it can hold a similar value.

Getting involved in the community usually means a time commitment and essentially a giving of something of value to you. Giving of time can sound stressful and giving of money can be burdensome.

In June 2007, the University of Oregon released the surprising finding of a research study about the effects of giving. While monitoring brain activities, researchers gave numerous subjects $100 and then showed the money being transferred from the subject’s account to a food bank. The result was that the pleasure areas of the brain were triggered; the same ones that glow while eating sweets, connecting socially, and flare during sex. When the subjects had the option to choose how to donate the money, the effects on the brain were even stronger. Maybe Jesus had another reason for telling his followers to give all their possessions away and follow Him. This doesn’t exactly mean a giving orgasm can be achieved; rather, the effects of giving are “pleasurable”.

Apart from the sensual benefit that community can bring, there are a number of other surprising benefits that community giving can bring to your life (statistics have been taken from a 2004 ICM conducted survey and commissioned by CSV and a United Healthcare Survey).

  • 47% of volunteers have reported a positive impact to their physical health and fitness
  • 25% of people volunteering 5 times or more a year have reported weight lose as a result
  • 9% of men and 8% of women have noted improvement in sex life due to volunteering
  • 71% of volunteers offering their professional skills have reported decreased depression
  • 43% of employers believe employees who volunteer are more likely to be promoted and increased pay
  • 73% of volunteers have noted reduced levels of stress

Community is what you make it. It’s much like a business. You work at it, you grow it, and it gives back. Feel like growing your community?

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Culture for the Little Guys

10 Feb

admin |  February 10th,2011 | A Young Entrepreneurs Blog |  Comments Off

I wrote this for my work a while back. I figured I’d share it with you.

Culture is one of those things that companies recognize as important, but struggle with knowing how far to take it. Executives admire the idea of having an engaging culture that is unique to them, tying the company together, and creating a barrage of synergy, but to what cost? At what point do we sweep culture under the rug to increase productivity? Or is culture reserved for larger companies with bigger budgets?

We’ve all seen the pedestals that Google and Zappos sit on. Their importance to us resides in giving the rest of us something to strive towards. Without the bar set high, we will never reach great heights, accomplish incredible feats, and move to becoming the trend setter.
During the Romantic Era, German philosopher Immanuel Kant formulated an alternative definition for “enlightenment” similar to the German concept bildung: “Enlightenment is a man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.” This immaturity is not due to a lack of understanding but lack of creativity and courage to think independently. For German scholar, Johann Herder, “Bildung was the totality of experiences that provide a coherent identity, and sense of common destiny, to a people.”

Strong cultures cannot be bought or created by means of currency. Rather, money provides additional channels in which cultures are fostered and grown. Culture is deep seeded, formed around shared purpose, goals, and points of view.

Author Gary Weaver created an iceberg analogy of culture where see, hear, and touch sat at the top, above the water line. Meanwhile beliefs, values, thought patterns, and myths were the core of iceberg, responsible for the remaining, unseen 90% of cultural embodiment. Too often companies spend their time focusing on the tip of the iceberg by providing excess amenities and a luxurious work environment. While these things are all good and helpful, they fail to connect employees on deeper issues that are responsible for interconnectedness. They fail to reach what motivates employees and challenges them to bring their “A” game.

Each company is made up of unique individuals, spanning from across the globe. There is no single means of building culture that works across the board. The key to building culture is focusing on commonalities or creating an environment in which the commonalities can surface.

Brainpark represents nationalities from 5 different continents while employing a mere 22 people; each individual bringing a unique lifetime of experiences and values to the company environment. Our challenge has been figuring out what types of culture do we want and how can we encompass the backgrounds of all members without anyone feeling stepped on or left out. Our solution: create an atmosphere which requires people to trust and share with each other, while allowing them to present their ideas as they feel comfortable without fear of negative criticism.

Like most startups, budget is tight and room for wiggle and waste is minimal, but this does not provide an excuse for overlooking company culture. Every quarter our disparate company comes together on a retreat which allows us maintain and grow our culture. As a collaboration software company focusing on disparate workers, this next statement comes with much humility. No amount of software can ever replace the combination of face-to-face and physical presence. Not Facebook, Apple’s Face Time, Cisco’s Telepresence, nor Brainpark (we are just the next best option). For us, these retreats are essential because they allow our teams to learn and understand each other’s values and thought patterns, exposing the underbelly of the cultural iceberg.

Most of the Brainpark staff will agree that our last retreat’s most memorable moments were the campfires and making the video about our culture. At the end of the day, finished with brainstorming sessions and group activities, sitting on log benches around a stone circled campfire, cracking open the beers could not have been more fitting. It was at that point we were able to look back at the day and reflect on our time working together. Taking time to step back and reflect at work is just as important for company success as reflection is in your personal life. It allows you to take pride in your work as well as critique for the future. For us at Brainpark, without the campfires and time to look back at our day, we would never have had the chance to open up and learn about one another. We would have never learned what is important to our colleagues and how it affects us.

Below is a fun video we made at our last retreat about our company culture. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it. We believe in creating an open culture, comfortable with people outside the company seeing how we operate. What would it take for your company to feel comfortable with outsiders seeing your culture?

Brainpark Teambuilding

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Building Something To Be Proud Of

24 Jan

admin |  January 24th,2011 | My Life |  Comments Off

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This being my first post I would like to express my excitement for my own site. As much as I’d love to have a finished site all set up as I have imagined, there is certainly something exciting about the building process. Whether it be a birdhouse, puzzle, shed, or website, there is a good feeling that goes along with knowing you’ve put work into building it. A website/blog is typically not my first choice of something to build but I see it similar to a man’s animal instinct coming out.

Men are built with this animal like need that requires an outlet. That can be anything from chasing down and hunting lions to smashing a tiny golf ball with a metal club. When the lion drops, or that ball is sent flying just right, there is an affirming sensation that overcomes him. (Tip: Read Wild At Heart by John Eldredge) Building things is often the same way and we see that from childhood. Most little boys either have toy tools or are ecstatic for any opportunity to get their hands on daddy’s tools. And when those power tools are broken out, no longer is that little boy searching for some sort of identity; a sense of identity and belonging sink in.

Before I deter too far from my point, men are built with an innate desire to build. In my situation, the last things I built was a deck for my grandmother for Christmas. Having no gift for her and being the only one empty handed when sharing presents I volunteered to rebuild the rickety, deteriorating deck on the hill behind her house. I didn’t actually get to rebuilding it till it was a mid-California summer of scorching heat pounding down on my back. It was a miserable and sweat soaked experience, but once everything was said and done, all the grief that the deck caused me turned into pride and happiness. With my two hands I built something I can be proud of, and that alone made it all worth it.

I wouldn’t exactly consider this my deck seeing that I enjoy it, but I know as this site is built out, those feelings of pride and happiness will return. If you haven’t built anything in a long while, maybe it’s time to get out and find a project. Build something to be proud of.

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