Evolved Corporate Values & Culture

Though I’ve never worked for NetFlix and don’t know anyone personally working at the firm, I was EXTREMELY impressed with the presentation below as it speaks directly to the type of management I feel is most effective. Most people SAY they understand this way of thinking, however I have seen so very few people and companies actually try and manifest this type of culture in their workplace.

I hope one day to be a part of an organization that truly embraces this presentation at a core level… though I’m sure if I don’t find one that does, I’ll simply create one on my own soon enough ;)

What other companies that you know of actually PRACTICE and CONTAIN some or all of the values and culture posted above?

More Than Just Surf City

Another much deserved re-post from friend and CEO of NextSpace Jeremy Neuner. If you’ve even heard of Santa Cruz, you should read this… in full.

-Sean

More Than Just Surf City
4th August, 2009
written by jeremy neuner

By now, almost everyone in the entire known universe has seen the Huffington Post’s mashup of “Sarah Palin vs. That Crazy Santa Cruz Lady.” Whatever you may think of the former Veep candidate, the young Santa Cruzan in the video—ranting to the city council about pesticides and slavery in an attempt to, um, participate in our local democracy—doesn’t do much to dispel a popular stereotype of Santa Cruz: that ours is a quirky, un-serious town.

I won’t try to deny that Santa Cruz is a quirky place. In fact, I wouldn’t want it any other way. What the rest of the world may see as quirky, most of us Santa Cruzans see as tolerant, welcoming, creative, and innovative. Still, I’m troubled by the possibility that the viral spread of the Huffington Post video is giving our fair seaside town a bad rap. So in the interest of providing a more complete version of the character of Santa Cruz, please take a spin through the following few items:

–In this short video, Greg Gumble (yep, THE Greg Gumble) from “The Economic Report” shows why Santa Cruz is a unique ecosystem that boasts a balanced lifestyle, a history of innovation, a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and a highly educated workforce. These are the exact ingredients for a strong, vibrant economy and we’ve got more than our fair share of those ingredients in Santa Cruz.

–Santa Cruz is loaded with creative designers, scrappy entrepreneurs, and savvy business people. This video, produced and directed by NextSpace member Dusty Nelson, features a who’s who of local educators, engineers, bankers, designers, government officials, and CEOs, all offering their pitch on why Santa Cruz is a great place to work, live, and play. Take 10 minutes and watch the whole thing. It’s an awfully damn impressive piece of filmmaking and showcases some of the world-class talent in this town.

–Speaking of world-class talent, check out this Business Week article about Santa Cruz-based Plantronics and Altec Lansing. Together, these companies racked up six innovation awards at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Tens of millions of people all over the world use their award-winning products and every one of those products was designed right here in Santa Cruz.

–What about the money? You need a pile of it to build great companies, not an easy task in these cash-strapped times. But local social networking start-up UserVoice recently landed $800,000 in seed stage capital. AlgaeOMEGA, a bio-fuels company spun out of research at NASA and UC Santa Cruz, received another $800,000. NextSpace member Carmen Kubas led her company, Lightfoot Industries, to a third place finish in a regional venture capital competition. And local heroes 12seconds.tv are luring investors with their new iPhone app and their huge community of users. Want to invest in some of the hottest new companies across a range of industries? Look no further than “quirky” Santa Cruz.

Like any city, Santa Cruz has lots of faces. We’re a surfing town, a tourist town, and a university town. Despite our depiction in the Huffington Post, Santa Cruz is a town that’s building an enviable ecosystem of business, lifestyle, and innovation. What’s our secret? We take ourselves seriously, just not too seriously.

Happy Santa Cruz Video #1

Will be finding a creative way to post this and other videos being submitted to www.happysantacruz.com, but until then you’ve got to check this out! All credit goes to Robert Victori, Artem Yermano and Mike Xu (my amazing interns this quarter from UCSC) who put this together last week.

A Slow Process of Revitalizing Santa Cruz

Strongly recommend you take the time to read Tom Honig’s recent opinion piece in the Good Times Santa Cruz entitled A Slow Process of Revitalizing Santa Cruz and check out the document he’s referencing that started out on the back of a napkin… where most great ideas start out IMHO :)

As I said in my introduction to the Envision Santa Cruz event in March, though parts of the existing systems that have been around for generations are failing all around us, I see more opportunity than ever these days. Times of crisis present incredible opportunities for those bold enough to take action and present new paradigms.

Santa Cruz is full of such people in fact and I am so stoked and feel so blessed to be among a community of like minded DOERS who are out there taking bold action, creating new paradigms and at very least TRYING to create a better world for themselves and future generations.

Happy Santa Cruz is Indeed Very Happy :)

After a lot of hard work and help from Todd Schafer, Davy and Ruby at Parachute Creative, Nick Sobrak-Seaton and James Lafferty (HUGE PROPS TO JAMES!) Happy Santa Cruz is now a reality. Check out the site at www.happysantacruz.com, let us know why Santa Cruz makes you happy, and spread the love!

Big thanks too to Genevieve Bookwalter with the Santa Cruz Sentinel for doing a phenomenal write up on the cover of the Sentinel Tuesday as well!

(HSC business partner and homeboy Nick is missing from the picture above)

Santa Cruz - Our Quality of Life is Good for Your Bottom Line

Rack One up for Santa Cruz and 12seconds.tv

I thought it worth throwing out there that bootstrapped www.12seconds.tv, out of Santa Cruz, CA, with 1 full time developer, 1 mostly full time CEO, 1 part time UI Designer and an endless supply of good Karma and Community Capital backing them have managed to surpass the likes www.seesmic.com in unique visitors per month… Seesmic, who has been around for twice as long and landed over $14M in funding.

Yes, Seesmic has “changed their focus” recently by embedding their video player on desktops, but IMHO, I would be freaking pissed if I were an investor in Seesmic and be all over 12seconds.tv right now as this is a simple case study in doing more with less and that the people running your business are far more important than business model.

I simply can’t wait to see what continues to go down in 2009. I strongly feel we’re going to see a dramatic shift in perceptions and in the way business actually gets done from a grassroots level. Specifically, count on those who understand that Business is Personal to start exceeding like never before.

Business is Personal - The Twisted Logic of “It’s Just Business”

I believe business should be conducted in such a way that provides for the continued existence, progressive and collective growth and enlightenment of our species. There are clearly caveats as to what progressive means and what growth is and is not preferable, as some growth simply does not benefit the whole or create lasting systemic good or change (such as that which destroys the resources needed for survival of future generations or that which decimates other species).

What I really want to dig into here though is the logic behind a statement such as “It’s just business” or “Don’t take it personal.” Specifically I’m interested in what it tells you about both the person making such a statement and the institution that supports such a statement. IMHO such statements and mindsets are indicative of short term, short sighted and abusive behavior that at its core reflects a strategy that is directly in conflict with the natural law and the very survival of our species.

Again, it all comes back to the law of attraction, or “What goes around comes around” or “Karma” as some may call it. To live ones life without knowing or understanding that every action has an equal or greater reaction is to live in ignorance of one of the very simple scientific facts of life. I like to call it “Wake Theory” when explaining this as it puts things into some tangible visual context. For example, ones life can be viewed as a massive ship pushing through the ocean building a wake behind it, and depending on ones actions, as this ship slows down, the wake generated can either serve to lift you back up and push you forward… or come crashing down on your head, filling you with water, stopping your motion and driving you down. For some, the wake goes back pretty far and can hit you days, weeks, months or even years after the fact… or it can lift you up and drive you forward days, weeks, months or even years after the fact.

Thus, to ignore or write off the human component and reaction(s) to ones actions, regardless of where these actions take place (in the office or at home) is, again, IMHO, very short sighted and ignorant of one of the most simple laws of nature and human behavior.

As if simply saying “Don’t take it personal, it’s just business” somehow negates or softens the reality of the situation at hand. “Oh, ok, well, he/she says I shouldn’t take it personal, so I’ll just pretend the conversation never happened or isn’t as serious or insulting as it is.” When I hear people say “It’s just business” or “Don’t take it personal” I’m always reminded of Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights, who repeatedly insults his boss and the owner of his racing team, but starts each insult with “With all due respect…”. Eventually the boss calls him out on it but Ricky Bobby simply doesn’t have the capacity to understand why what he’s saying is still insulting. Well folks, you tell me, do these statements sound any different to you?

• “Your ugly” vs. “With all due respect, you’re ugly” vs. “Don’t take it personal, but you’re ugly”

• “I think you’re a total slacker” vs. “With all due respect, I think you’re a total slacker” vs. “Don’t take it personal, but you’re a total slacker”

• “A 2 year old could do a better job than you” vs. “With all due respect, a 2 year old could do a better job than you” vs. “Don’t take it personal, but a 2 year old could do a better job than you”

Is there a difference? Would hearing one of these over another make you feel any less insulted?

I think not.

So what’s the solution and point here? Well, understand that BUSINESS IS PERSONAL and every action has a reaction. Next time you’re in a position where you need to have a tough conversation with someone, or you feel the need to make a business decision that may put someone off or hurt someone in some way or another, take a step back, try and empathize with how the person you’re speaking with might receive what you’re about to tell them, and treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Also, understand that if someone ever does say something like “It’s just business” or “Don’t take it personal”, they’re more than likely coming from a place with little/no previous life experience that affords them the capacity to manage their relationships or job with compassion or empathy… much like Ricky Bobby. Understand that this is the type of person or people you’ll be needing to work with and deal with moving forward at your job and if you feel the management and owners of the company your working for follow a similar philosophy, then understand the chances of you getting screwed over, mismanaged and generally abused by your work place are extremely high. Those who tend to have no qualms with a statement like “It’s just business” or “Don’t take it personal” lack an understanding of “Karma,” “Wake Theory,” or “what goes around comes around” and very likely only view you as a disposable asset that can be replaced without thinking twice.

Personally, though I may not know you, I think your life can be spent in a far greater capacity than serving as a slave to people or an organization that lacks a longer term, more realistic and honest understanding of how the world works… Don’t you?

Next Page »