Have you ever eaten a chocolate trifle?

It is perhaps the most tantalizing dessert on the face of the Earth. A tall, wide bowl holds layer upon layer of deliciousness. My wife makes a chocolate trifle that is layered from bottom to top like this:

• Brownie
• Chocolate pudding
• Vanilla pound cake
• Crushed Oreo cookie
• More brownie
• More Oreo cookie
• Tons of whipped cream
• Chocolate sprinkles

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After my first meeting with my company where I introduced all of that new company information, eyeballs rolled and people loudly sighed. This was a very discouraging start. I felt as though the negative reactions had a personal undertone directed at me, so it stung quite a bit.

I asked Smartie-Pants about it, and he said, “You should expect some skepticism and some doubt and beware that some people won’t want to embrace the ideas you have for the future. Some of the skeptics are people who don’t belong on the bus, but they will eventually realize that this culture stuff is here to stay. Those people will leave. The ones who stay but resist are testing you to see how you will handle their doubt.  This is your chance to show them you are serious and committed. As a result, these folks will eventually come around.” Continue reading…

Our first WOW Day was a success, considering we were newbies when it came to practicing recognition. I wanted to give recognition to our employees, and I wanted the day to be uplifting. We honored a number of employees who all deserved their moment in the spotlight. I shared how our company is doing. All of this combined, I believe that I accomplished everything I set out to do with our first employee recognition event. Continue reading…

After studying Dr. Bob Nelson’s work on employee recognition, we learned that we could create a useful and effective employee recognition program with a small budget. So in an effort to “practice what we preach,” we initiated our first employee recognition program event.

Ideally, we wanted this event to be a day of recognition where we honored employees for exemplifying our company values. We named the event WOW Day to reflect our brand Home of “The WOW Effect”® and because we wanted our employees to feel “The WOW Effect”™ for themselves.

Our first WOW Day in 2005 honored a group of amazing employees for doing their work in a way that could Turn Emotions Into Memories™ and make others say “WOW!” Continue reading…

Would you believe me if I told you that our core purpose, plus the Hedgehog Concept, plus a bunch of fun parties helped our company take the next step on our way from good to great?

It was at our next meeting that Smartie-Pants introduced the concept of the Flywheel Effect to us. It is another idea offered by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great. Continue reading…

In business and in life, actions speak louder than words. This is especially true at the start of the culture-building process. Our first crack at this did not go as well as I had hoped. But I took my wife’s advice and chose to take the next step in the journey. If you missed my previous post, you can read it here.

After the feeling of defeat at my first all-company meeting, I went to work the next day and honestly felt that my desire to be a company that created emotions and memories and glimmering crystal awards was just a load of smoke. To be totally transparent, I was tapped out. Keeping up with each day and the new building completely depleted my energy reserve.

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As I noted in my last post, the days surrounding Crystal D’s move to the new facility and meeting with Smartie-Pants about our future were very, very busy.

Our company culture was under the magnifying glass. In just a few short months, my leadership team and I had reconsidered just about every detail as to who we are and what we do. We also physically moved each item from one place to the next. This was a very energizing time filled with optimism and speculation. We asked ourselves:

• “How do we make our core purpose and values part of daily life at work?”
• “How do we recognize our employees in a meaningful way?”
• “How do we continue to provide “The WOW Effect”® to ourselves and our customers?” 

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You know the saying, “When it rains, it pours.” Well, it does. It seems that the busier you are, the more you can do. This was the case with me at this time of my life and for my business too.

I love being busy and having a distinct purpose to each day. The feeling of accomplishment that comes from completing one task helps motivate me to take on things that are even harder, more complex, or more challenging. Continue reading…

In the midst of all this analysis-work with Smartie-Pants, I remember coordinating a grill-out lunch for my employees. I’d planned to grill up a bunch of chicken and burgers, while the employees provided sides. Potluck style. Simple, casual, relaxed, delicious.

I had been internalizing our company mission – To Turn Emotions Into Memories™ – when I came up with an idea. I wanted to surprise our employees and give them a small reward for their hard work the past few months. I didn’t have a ton of money to spend, and I only had 4 hours before the grill-out began. Continue reading…