“The
Return to Yourself, the Return to Innocence”
Imagine
for a moment, the characters of the popular television show, The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Sheldon Cooper,
Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, Dr. Raj Koothrappali, and Howard Wolowitz being selected
by a company, like Seagate, for its annual “Eco Seagate”, described by Max
(2006) as “an intense week of team-building” that begins high atop New Zealand’s
mountain range, “The Remarkables”, and ends with “an all-day race” requiring
that which O’Brien (2008) refers to as “Type-A, engineers, hyper-educated Ph.Ds.”
and brilliant scientists, “accustomed to being the smartest, most confident
people in any room” to, as Max (2006) continues, “kayak, hike, bike, swim, and
rappel” their way to shed inhibitions to become a better teammate. How long
would it be before a character such as Penny had to intervene in order to
master skills such as orienteering, create a bird call, or develop a “choreographed
haka” (Max, 2006)? Yet, each year, since 2000, this is exactly what happens
with 200 Seagate staffers.
Brown
(2011) explains “outdoor experiential laboratory training”, aka “boot camp”,
has grown in popularity over the last ten years as a method for developing
teams and leadership (p. 273). The concept is quite simple and Seagate has
taken it to an extreme level. Folks who typically work together in one
particular environment, in this case, an environment that produces hardware for
computer storage, a tech environment, are flown around the world to an
environment where tech experience does not guarantee survival (Brown, 2011;
Max, 2006, O’Brien, 2008). The first of two videos, presented by Ming Chao
(2008a), captures a very primal call, one expressed by Enigma with their song, “Return
to Innocence”, presented by Emimusic (2009). The first segments of Ming Chao’s
(2008a) film present a backdrop of spiritual music, showcase sacrificial tasks,
like crossing a cable stretched across a ravine, capture words of encouragement
and images of helping others in the face of defeat, and highlight chivalry,
long thought dead, as a man helps a woman with her bike as she struggles to
cross a fast-flowing stream. In an office setting, would she have been so quick
to accept that help? I well remember a poster titled, “Everything I Need to
Know I Learned in Kindergarten”. The problem, in my opinion, is we forget those
simple lessons; and, companies like Seagate are searching for ways to
reintroduce those simplistic lessons.
Kindergartners
are fearless. Put them in a room and ask them to “imitate the sound the New
Zealand birds” assigned to their groups and most will bravely begin to call out
a plethora of sounds (Max, 2006). Kindergartners and even younger children, who
have not yet developed solid language skills, never cease to amaze as they
instinctively and intuitively communicate with one another, despite “languages
and cultural divides” (O’Brien, 2008). Somewhere along the way, on the road to
adulthood, we forget those simple lessons. We remain quiet in meeting rooms. We
don’t ask for clarification or even help. We suppress feelings and emotions.
Enigma chants, “Don’t’ be afraid to be weak, don’t be proud to be strong”; and,
yet, that is precisely what transpires (Emimusic, 2009). We dare not show
weakness. Perhaps we fear a culture that once existed at Seagate, one known as “Slavegate”
wherein the CEO kept “a grenade on his desk” and fired people “all the time” (O’Brien,
2008). Ming Chao (2008a) clearly captures a stronger man carrying not only his
bike; but, that of a fellow teammate, who happens to be a woman. He doesn’t ask
permission; he simply grabs it and helps. In an executive environment, would
that have been considered as chauvinistic? Just as Enigma’s video features
mythical, unicorn, renewal, ocean waves, and bountiful, tilled lands, elements,
each of which requires a reflection of one’s feelings and emotions; so, too
does Eco Seagate (Emimusic, 2009).
Teams of forty
divided into four tribes, experience renewal through religious chants and
signature bird calls that transcend cultural diversity and language barriers (O’Brien,
2008). Inhibitions are further cast aside as office attire gives way to “war
paint, headbands, and makeshift grass skirts” (Max, 2006). Seagate’s team
building is filled with risk, designed to encourage its selected staffers to
take risks, like Tish Sanchez who earned “an extra token” for her team by “volunteering
to rappel off a bridge” in spite of her fear of heights (Max, 2006). She
learned to trust and accept help by facing a situation in an environment completely
foreign to the one found within the walls of “the world’s biggest maker of hard
drives” (Max, 2006). As explained by Brown (2011), the OD practitioner allows
teams to critique, debrief, and discuss the day’s activities. Eco Seagate
follows this and provides motivational speeches from a host of experts who
challenge participants to consider not who they are; but, who they can become
(Ming Chao, 2008b). Eco Seagate provides a communal approach to modify
individual behavior such that the more people tire, the more they are “apt to
ask for help and work as a team” (O’Brien, 2006).
The value
of such a program is found by the sheer numbers who attempt to be selected.
According to O’Brien (2008), of the 55,000 employed worldwide, Seagate has
chosen 200 staffers each year, has spent $10,000 per person, and has considered
the applications of the same applicants for more than a decade. Teams are put
together knowing each participant has a weakness, either readily or not readily
apparent (O’Brien, 2006). Seagate developed its team building concept and its
employees keep coming. I wonder how many of those who participate actually
spoke to one another before the Eco Seagate experience. I wonder how creativity
increased once people found their voice. Seagate has transformed from a company
defined by a culture known as “Slavegate” to one that is “open, honest, and encouraged
people to work together” (Max, 2006). The break from the typical tech
environment challenges high performance teams they do need to rely on one
another. They shouldn’t be afraid to expose their weaknesses or their
strengths. As Brown (2011) observes, “Negotiating the elements takes ingenuity
and teamwork”, so, too does negotiating the design room, the war room, and even
the board room (p. 274).
The
characters of The Big Bang Theory often
find themselves out of their university laboratory element. How many times has
a girl from Nebraska, who barely graduated high school, provided the simple
solution to that which was first thought to be a complex problem? Likewise, how
often have their skills rescued her? Ming Chao’s (2008b) second video includes
a score that mirrors the message of Enigma wherein the individual, through a
communal experience, learns to live again, learns to love again, and more
importantly, learns that a return to yourself is the return to innocence. It's an experience from which any organization would benefit.
References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization
Development. (8th ed.). Upper
Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Emimusic. (2009, Mar. 10).
Enigma – Return to Innocence. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/Rk_sAHh9s08
Max, S. (2006, April 3). Seagate’s
Morale-athon. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved
from
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-04-02/seagates-morale-athon
Ming Chao. (2008a, April 25).
Eco Seagate 2008 1/3. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/zCOfOFMiLtE
Ming Chao. (2008b, April 25).
Eco Seagate 2008 2/3. [Video file]. Retrieve from
https://youtu.be/Etwuap-_Azk
O’Brien, J.M. (2008, May 21).
Team building in paradise. Fortune. Retrieved
from
http://archive.fortune.com/2008/05/20/technology/obrien_seagate.fortune/index.htm
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