My Business On Purpose

We have been misled about the idea of culture. After poorly thought out ideas of free-Friday-lunches, bean bag chairs in the break rooms, ping pong tables, open office concepts, and incentive compensation plans, team members are still disengaged and frustrated. We are trying to solve a pervasive, soul level challenge, with the oscillating fan of surface level ideas, rather than dousing the underlying flames of cultural disconnection with the quenching water of cultural satisfaction and engagement. Often we hear business owners complaining about the pending generational work ethic, or lack of, followed by a throwing up of hands and a resignation that “my generation is the only generation that knows how to work.” When speaking to groups of small business owners, this is a typical refrain, “nobody wants to show up and work.” My response, in a kind and forceful way, “no, they just don’t want to show and work for you… because you have already given up on them.” The great challenge of a sporting coach is to recruit