Earlier in September, John took his daughter on a roadtrip to Raleigh for the Hopscotch Music Festival. ("Really, it was just to see Pavement and Alvvays. We had a blast," he said.) They managed to swing through Carrboro on the way home to check out the progress on the newest Orange County (NC) Public Library. John, Lesley and Serena have worked on two strategic plans for the library in recent years. It's exciting to see tangible progress on such a significant building for the library team.
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND: Mining cultural aspirations across campus
Culture is our experience of work: Cultural artifacts surround us. All of our workplaces are littered with representations of who we are, and of the stories that give shape and purpose to our work. Our experience, reinforced in recent months as we met with more than 400 employees from the University of Richmond Business Affairs Division, is that the most tangible, and meaningful, representation of culture is found in the day-to-day experiences of human beings at work.
Systems can amplify, and complicate, work: Something we often look for when we're in an organization asking questions are indications that existing systems and processes are either enhancing or disrupting the ability of people to do their best work in ways that allow for connection and belonging, purpose, autonomy and growth. (Hello, Dan Pink.)
Gathering data at the University of Richmond: Ebony, Julia, Kayla, Thea and I gathered evidence the old-fashioned way: we listened, and we looked. Almost 30 focus groups with almost every employee in the division, a walking tour of all of their work locations, and a survey that probed deeper into questions of core values, meaning at work, and opportunities for deeper inclusion and belonging translated into two guiding documents filled with anecdotal perspectives and aspirations of University employees. These documents -- almost 100 pages of personal stories and experiences, requests, ideas and solutions -- are the cornerstone of our next phase of work.
And now the hard part: Ebony and I will spend September with groups of employees -- more than 100 representing every level of work -- making meaning of the perspectives and stories we captured. We'll also be working to identify the most powerful and impactful moves the University can make to strengthen the culture of work, which is inherently about shaping the experience of people doing work together.
Letter from John: Think Days
I woke up the day after Labor Day, and I waffled.
I had recently blocked the first Tuesday of every month -– through next summer –- for a “Think Day.” I borrowed the concept from entrepreneur Sahil Bloom, who suggests using a day a month or quarter to just reflect, write, ask yourself some questions.
But I woke up with a full plate of tasks, and begin to consider surrendering this first “Think Day” in order to get things done. This, of course, is the sort of thinking that “Think Day” is designed to avoid.
Which is how I found myself spending a hot September morning outside –- in the shade of a local coffee shop, and then on the patio/deck outside of the VMFA –- thinking.
But also connecting.
Who would have thought that I would run into multiple familiar faces, or would have had time to read (and reflect on) half a book, or had a casual (but task focused) video call with a colleague, or enjoyed a quiet breakfast at The Village Café -– all before noon? (I also walked one kiddo, and drove the second, to school. And then got ice cream with both of them afterward.)
Who would have thought? Probably Sahil Bloom for starters.
It turns out that the day that almost didn't happen feels exactly like the sort of day I wish always happened. There was connection, reflection, variety, purpose, productivity. The dimensionality of life. It almost makes me second guess my calendar and how I'm using it. Or not.
The book I chewed through during my first Think Day is a book by one of my gurus, and one of his gurus. Peter Block (my semi-mentor) and Peter Koestenbaum published “Confronting Our Freedom: Leading a Culture of Chosen Accountability and Belonging” earlier this year. It’s sat by my bed since May.
Block surfaces an old idea of his: Managing at its worst is a flashback to bad parenting. Too often it is just an awkwardly executed system of control. The tension between freedom and management in most of our organizations is badly smudged, and too often barely visible if not constantly misunderstood.
It strikes me that there could be more visible, and intermediate, steps between absolute freedom and complete control, and that they both need to be more intentionally tied to purpose.
To the degree that our system of work feels increasingly untethered from our lives –- the experience of many during the past several years of disruption -– then perhaps some genuine transformation is required in the ways we ask employees to show up, do great work, and be engaged while they're at it.
Purpose and meaning –- and the experiences which give them life, texture, a sense of presence -– are how we often anchor the best moments of our lives. Why not also the best moments of our work? Why not absolutely the best moments of our work?
It was with this thought slipping around in my mind that I unexpectedly found myself bumping into and then chatting with Errol on the first day of his retirement from the Library of Virginia. We talked about road trips, pending solar eclipses, and the wisdom of our mentors. And then as we prepared to pivot back on our individual trajectories, he said, “Listen. That work that Floricane did with the Library over the years really was a net positive in so many ways.”
Boom. Connection, reflection, variety, purpose, productivity, the dimensionality of life. Meaningful impact.
And in the branches of the pin oaks baking in the summer sun, the rising symphony of cicadas completes the texture of my “Think Day” as I write this note.
MAIL CALL
We learned long ago that printed material -- particularly when created by our favorite designer, Ben Dacus -- leave a bigger, and more lasting, impression than random social media posts. This month, we dropped a few hundred reminders to our nonprofit friends about the importance of planning now to leap into strategic planning in 2024. (Pro Tip: Have a bored teen? Give them 300 oversized postcards, some markers, a list of addresses and stamps.) Coming up later this year -- Floricane celebrates 15 years of building connections, creating change, and making amazing friends.
"Sikre rejser" to Floricane's latest intern
We're saying goodbye to our intern, Kayla Maxey, this week as she prepares for her senior year at Boston University. She'll spend the fall in Denmark studying sustainability and strategy, and we're only a little jealous. Kayla spent 10 weeks with us interviewing almost a dozen of our past strategic planning clients, and taking hundreds (literally, hundreds) of pages of notes from focus group sessions for two of our current clients -- the University of Richmond and the National Association of Residential Property Managers. We asked Kayla to capture her personal Top 5 from her summer with Floricane.
The importance of inclusion in strategy: This was reinforced through both my conversations with Floricane's past clients and my experience in the room with current clients. The inclusion of employees and stakeholders allows the people who are affected by the work -- who are often the people who do the work -- to have a voice and help shape an organization’s strategy.
The University of Richmond Project: Being able to support the facilitation process on a current project with the University of Richmond’s Business Affairs division was really enjoyable. It’s great to see people progressively open up in conversation and to hear their observations about their work culture.
Understanding the team through Insights: Reviewing our Insights profiles with the Floricane team gave me a clearer understanding of other’s work preferences and personalities. This allowed me to align with their needs while also discussing how we can collaborate more effectively as a team, taking each other's preferences into account.
Insights reflections with John: Having a discussion with John after the Insights workshop provided me with a deeper understanding of my own work style and tendencies. It also helped me identify how those preferences show up for me, and allowed me to set some personal goals for the summer.
A more human approach to consulting: Floricane’s approach to consulting is one I find to be very human-centric, focusing on developing a deep understanding of the organizations it supports and respecting that the people who do the work are often the ones who know the most about it.
Letter From John: Not What, But Why
In August of 2008, I was a husband and new father who had inadvertently found a home at what was once a small, family-owned stone quarry out in Goochland County. I liked my coworkers, and the work I did. I had good mentors, and meaningful friendships at Luck Stone. The economy was a bit wobbly, but in the grand scheme of things life was pointed in the right direction. Until it wasn’t.
I’ve been thinking lately about the birth of Floricane 15 years ago (this November). A recent Washington Post opinion piece by cognitive scientist (and violinist) Maya Shankarframed that abrupt life transition in a new way for me. Shankar writes about imaginative courage, but she also shares her personal experience with unwanted change— in her case, when a popped tendon in her hand ended her career as a violinist.
“The violin had defined me for so long, and without it, I felt stuck. I would later learn that this experience is known as identity paralysis — and it happens to a lot of us when we experience unexpected, unwanted change: Who we think we are and what we’re about is suddenly called into question.”
I came home from Luck Stone for the last time the morning of November 12. I was still a husband and a new father, but all of the other elements of my life had, unexpectantly, changed.
But this missive is not about what I lost, or thought I lost, in that unwanted transition. It’s about what I gained.
Shankar continues in her piece:
“I realized that what I missed most about playing the violin was that it had given me a vehicle for connecting emotionally with others. It turned out that this was at the root of my passion for music. And a hopeful message emerged from this insight: Although I had lost the ability to play the violin, I could still find this underlying love of human connection in other pursuits.”
At Luck, I had found a home, a community, work that I was becoming good at doing. But I also had found the beginnings of a purpose, one that surfaced in a more expansive and meaningful way when I started Floricane.
At our best, Shankar suggests, we are not what, but why. Centering your life around what drives you, what lights you up, that’s the discovery Shankar unpacks in her second career as a cognitive scientist.
Reflecting on these past 15 years, it’s amazing and uplifting to see – and have experienced — the myriad of ways an unexpected change in the fall of 2008 catalyzed the passions I was just discovering and allowed them to deepen and flourish.
Today, I have so many ways to connect with new people and new communities, to uncover perspectives and ideas with organizations, to surface new ways to think about and act on the future. Every single day holds new conversations filled with possibility.
Shankar’s invitation: Look for opportunities to practice imaginative courage, remember that why you do something is more important than what you do and, whenever possible, try and seek out awe.
I’m pretty clear on my why. Perhaps it’s time to explore imaginative courage, and to bring awe back into my life.
- John
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND: Strengthening the roots of belonging for all
BELONGING AND THE UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND: A key strategic priority of the University -- and one the new President mentions often -- is Belonging and Community. The priority is centered around the idea that every person on campus matters, and "every Spider feels and is seen, heard, valued, and has someone they can look to for support." The students are an obvious focus here, but this priority matters to students, faculty and staff.
ASKING THE QUESTION: John Sarvay, Ebony Walden, Julia D'Agostino and Kayla Maxey have spent the past several weeks asking questions, and listening. At the heart of our discussion with staff? How can the Business Affairs division create a stronger culture of belonging for every employee?
THE ANSWERS ARE IN THE ROOM: There's something truly inspiring and uplifting about being in room after room after room with a diverse group of people who care about what they do, value the people they work with, and have clarity about what they need to be more effective, engaged and satisfied in their work. The fact that we will end this first round of engagement having been in the room with more than 85% of the ~550 employees from Business Affairs feels really, really good.
WHAT'S NEXT: Transforming a few hundred pages of notes -- thanks, Kayla! -- into a set of themes to shape new Mission, Vision and Values statements for the division, and then developing clear guidance and recommendations to bring those statements to life in the culture will be our next round of heavy lifting. And once again we'll turn to the people who do the work to make that happen.
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond
THE BACKGROUND: Erin and John are halfway through our second year of supporting leadership development at Richmond Ronald McDonald House Charities. This year, our focus is on four managers who lead the work that keeps the organization humming, and families supported and cared for. We couldn’t have picked a more intense year, as the organization prepares to open an expanded family hospitality space in the new Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.
WHAT WE'RE DOING: Erin’s doing the coaching, and John’s doing the monthly training. Our skills focus so far has been on Situational Leadership (SLII), specifically the importance of regular alignment conversations. We recently pivoted to discuss the teams of each manager from the Insights® Team Effectiveness perspective. In addition to monthly coaching sessions with each manager, we have a monthly group coaching session where we check in on the overall organizational climate and discuss application of what the group is learning. Erin and John also meet each month with senior RMHC Richmond leadership.