Last month’s visit to Nicaragua included another in a series of workshops conducted by colleagues Rene Mendoza and Edgar Fernandez, two of the most experienced researchers and trainers in the country. They continue to educate, facilitate reflection, spur innovative thinking and encourage the rural cooperatives Winds of Peace has been working with in recent years. The quality of the discussions in these workshops has been as deep and introspective as any business thinking forums I’ve experienced over the past forty years. Continue reading Fighting Goliath→
I referenced here last week in my entry, “It’s All In the Game,” that The Gathering of Games Conference is one that is full of energy and, frankly, full of joy. It sounds strange to refer to a business conference in those terms, but I think they’re appropriate descriptions. First-time attendees like my Nicaraguan colleague Rene Mendoza recognize it immediately and cannot help but comment upon it. In fact, I overheard one participant ask, “Where does all that energy come from?”
The answers to that question could take many forms, because there are many ingredients that constitute such a sense of excitement, including the personalities of the attendees themselves. But one of the conference break-out sessions provided one perspective that I thought stated the organizational reality pretty well. It’s not a formula, but wisdom seldom presents itself that way. In this case, the insight comes in the form of three C’s:
CHARACTER
However one might try to define it, character is the glue that holds organizations together. Even if an organization is temporarily performing acceptably, that performance will be negated in the presence of motives that are personal to its leaders. Leadership lack of character cripples organizations.
Some leaders simply love the power or their position and the ability to manipulate others with it. Some seek their own self-promotion. Others might recognize the chance to leverage their authority for the sake of a few. And within these instances, the seeds of mistrust, doubt, fear and indecision take root to destroy organizational hope. It may be assumed that leaders will deeply respect the responsibility entrusted to them, but character is not always sound or automatic.
The character of an organization- its sustainability and chances for positive impacts- is shaped by the character of its leaders and followers alike. Where members seek to serve as good stewards of their authority and resources, their organizations have a much better chance of surviving and thriving into the future. And good stewardship simply means the motivation to nurture and protect the the interests of all members and the community-at-large. It’s the care exercised when members have entrusted to their leaders their economic, social, cultural and community futures for safe-keeping. Character is the measure of how any of us cares for such precious matters. “Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”
COMPETENCE
Of course, organizations must possess the intellectual and energy resources to accomplish their objectives. But before anyone dismisses this need as too obvious, consider the kind of competence needed.
First, there is the need for the personal competence of the organization’s members. In a corporation or non-profit entity, members are hired according to the specific knowledge or experience they can contribute to the institution’s success. In a cooperative or non-profit, members are added according to the specific knowledge or experience they can contribute to the organization’s success; the members must be added on the basis of their common objectives with the other members, and their willingness to contribute personally to the strength of the group. Too often, organizations are weighed down by the tonnage of unwilling and therefore incompetent members, people who have joined only for the benefits and none of the work.
Secondly, the organization itself has to demonstrate competence. Throughout its ranks of members, the organization has to ensure that every player is is clear about what is expected. In successful enterprises, organizations are specific in emphasizing the needs for everyone’s contributions, that without each member supplying his or her piece of the puzzle, the picture can never be completed.
Competence also builds upon the need for the right character. Character, and all of the expectations of it, can be a learned attribute like any other. When individuals and their organizations become clear about the need for certain competencies, a high level of ethical behaviors rises to the top of the list. Such actions only become the norm when the organizational culture expects it.
Finally, if the organization has acquired or developed essential competencies, it can begin to work on business competence. In short, the members must know, truly understand, how the organization will succeed. Members have to know the “business equation,” what actions will drive success, what each of them must contribute. If each player in the game does not have such insight, they might well be playing a different game altogether. And when members are playing by different rules, seeking different outcomes, the organization loses.
CONSISTENCY
As if the first two matters of character and competence weren’t demanding enough, it turns out that when our organizations have finally experienced success, it’s not enough. Exercise of stewardship character and personal/organizational competence have to become the habits of a successful organization, practiced, repeated and refined consistently by its members. Habits are no more than repeated patterns of behavior, and every act by every individual every day has the potential to become habit, good or bad. Strong organizational consistency is the ability to reinforce the strengthening habits and eliminate the weakening ones. The best organizations have discovered the importance of teaching its members the differences between the two.
Like competence, consistency builds upon the issue of character. The strongest organizations maintain a reliably consistent posture with regard to issues of integrity; there are no “situational ethics” which permit decisions that are not in keeping with the organization’s character. And the greater the consistency of character, the easier it becomes to demand the same of every member. There are no exceptions to what is right.
The three C’s described above constitute a big part of the high energy experienced at The Gathering. People become naturally enthusiastic in environments where there is trust, where members can be confident that their teammates have accepted their responsibilities, and that such behaviors can be counted upon day after day.
It’s true for organizations in the U.S. and ones in Nicaragua. It’s true for businesses and non-profits. It’s true for secular and church. It’s true everywhere because it resonates with the human soul. Organizational environments like these free people to become more than they may have thought possible. That awakening creates energy, and makes the hallways at The Gathering alive with dreams….
In the first moments of the cooperative workshop held a couple of weeks ago, Rene Mendoza, the architect and facilitator of the session, asked the 40 or so attendees several questions: 1.) When you first heard of cooperatives, what did you think? 2.) What do you think now? 3.) What do you think a cooperative can be?
Each of the questions elicited a range of answers from the participants, but the one that struck me was one man’s response to the third inquiry, about what a coop could be. On that point, he observed that the cooperative “ought to serve as a school for learning,” a place where members ought to be able to become better: better producers, better stewards of the land, better administrators, better colleagues with one another, better providers for their families and themselves. The moment was a passing one, and the conversation immediately took a different turn. But I made the note to myself that this fellow understood the essence of what could be.
The motivations of the attendees for being at the workshop covered the full spectrum. They revealed it in their answers to the three questions. Some were there because they had attended previous workshops funded by WPF over the past several years and they didn’t want to be absent for the latest installment. Some were there because the venue was close to home and the opportunity to check in, have several meals with members of neighboring coops and hear the latest news was just too convenient to pass up. Some attended because they thought there might be a chance to secure new funding from WPF; they said as much. And then, there were those who came because they have begun to understand that the experiences and wisdom of other cooperatives contain a wealth of learning opportunities that are unavailable almost anywhere else. All the reasons for attending were good ones and there are no judgments here about whether one person’s basis for coming was valid or not. We all come to the table with very different histories and circumstances.
But if one of the intentions of the workshop was to create a long-lasting, sustained impact on the lives and the fortunes of rural cooperatives in Nicaragua, then the observation made by the guy quoted above deserves special attention. For the idea behind that comment gets to the heart of lasting change in Nicaragua or anywhere else, for that matter. It is only when we allow ourselves to be in a full learning mode that we’re capable of real transformation, both organizationally and individually. In this case, the comment was made from an holistic point of view, wherein change at the individual level would facilitate change at the organizational level, and the benefits of such changes would scatter through entire communities. But first, every member of a cooperative would have to be willing to bring whatever knowledge he/she possessed, to share in building a true school for learning. That’s what a cooperative does, cooperate to the advantage of the entire group. Easy to understand, more difficult to perform, and particularly against the tide of a culture which has not functioned in such a way historically.
All of the folks in attendance were present for good reasons, whatever those might have been. The good news is that they were there, taking the risk of leaving their comfort zones and exposing themselves to something new. That takes courage and willingness to accept some risk. But a further step to be taken is the one where each member of a cooperative can come to feel the trust and collegiality within their organization. The pieces of the cooperative puzzle are embodied in each of its members and, like any puzzle, all the pieces are needed in order to complete the picture. And when that faith among fellow coop members has been cultivated sufficiently, then in turn the coops as organizations are more likely to turn to one another to further contribute to the solving of the producer puzzle on a territorial basis. Education may be partially dependent upon great teachers, but without willing learners, even the most compelling educator is rendered useless.
Many interesting visions about what a cooperative can be emerged in that discussion several weeks ago. But the notion of “a school for learning” is the one that stays with me, and I hope with the other participants, as well….
I traveled to Nicaragua during the last week of June, only my second journey there this year. When the frequency of site visits is so limited, I become especially eager to travel there and interact with partners both new and old. In the course of such meetings I anticipate adding to my knowledge and understanding of culture and realities there; in fact, my education at the feet of my Nicaraguan teachers has provided some of the most important lessons of my life. So my Sunday flight to Managua was filled with even greater expectations than usual. Unfortunately, that was among the last good feelings I experienced all week!
I got sick. For the first time in my eight years of travel to and from Nicaragua. I could feel the headache developing by the time I boarded my connecting flight in Houston, and by the time I landed in Managua, I knew what was coming. I checked myself in to the hotel with the growing dread of one being assaulted by the familiar sore throat-cough-congestion combination that has power to make life miserable even in the best, most comfortable circumstances. In my case, though, it was an “assault en route” amidst plans for driving great distances among our planned stops for the week.
Monday morning awakened me with confirmation of my own diagnosis. By Tuesday, my voice was completely absent, just at the moment when we were to be participating (verbally, of course) in a special workshop of nearly 40 coffee producers. Any comments I wanted to make had to be written down so that Mark could add voice to them. Maybe more importantly, I’m sure that I was only half-present. I really wanted to be in bed to nurse my misery.
If there was any sympathy among my classmates, it surely emerged during any of the mealtimes. I could not even contemplate breakfast. Lunch afforded little better appetite, and the few things that I might have eaten were far from accessible at our rural site. Dinner was a celebration, of sorts, held at the home of one of the participants and I found myself rudely unable to eat, drink or converse in any meaningful way. I’m certain that most of my time was spent fantasizing about getting into bed for a full surrender to the lack of energy that consumed me. One of my worst days ever!
Wednesday dawned with slightly better voice but with little additional energy, even after a long night’s rest. By now I had acquired some cough lozenges, though, so I had hopes of at least croaking out some thoughts in this final day of the workshop. And in fact, Mark and I were both able to contribute independently to the forum and by the end of the session I felt as though I had given up whatever energy I had, as small a consolation as it was. Although another unwanted meal awaited us at the conclusion, I had a new objective in mind to keep me going: cough medicine.
By three in the afternoon I possessed the cherished cherry potion. I don’t know whether its efficacy was due to its medicinal properties or a psychological boost, but at least my cough calmed itself for a few hours. I checked into my hotel by four o’clock and I was asleep by four-thirty.
Two weeks hence, I still nurse a slight summer cough and what remains of a sick sinus; sometimes these things just seem to feel permanently at home in your chest and head. And I find myself reflecting on a week where I could offer very little of myself or whatever energy I might bring to WPF work; was there anything redeeming or instructive in the experience of being sick in Nicaragua?
The answer, of course, is yes. First of all, no trip to Nicaragua is in vain. If one is only breathing, there is ample experience to take in from the everyday people met. Just sitting in a meeting space for two days and listening to people who are trying to strategically envision their plan for meeting basic life needs through their work is a humbling and yet strangely energizing feeling. The human spirit is moved when face-to-face with needs of intensity; it’s no less true in the face of illness. I have little doubt that had I been home bed this week I would have felt worse and strengthened slower than I did surrounded by my Nicaraguan classmates.
Second, there is something redemptive in persevering in one’s work despite an illness. There is the value of being able to tell stories about it or write blog posts to tout one’s determination and resolve, of course. But there is also value in being required to push oneself, even if at half-speed, and to recognize that the world is full of people pushing themselves daily against circumstances that render them even less than half-speed. A cold is one thing; hunger, want and despair are far greater illnesses being fought.
Third, I will not soon forget that during the final, verbal evaluation of the workshop, as participants were relating their most important “take-aways” from the workshop, at least four of them cited ideas or lessons that either Mark or I had shared. For these people, at least, our presence was not a waste of time or exercise in futility, but rather an important component in their struggles to understand how their cooperatives, their lives, might be made to work better.
I’ve got to constantly remind myself that trips to Nicaragua are not about me or how I feel, but about those who seek to learn….
I was very happy to meet with you once more; I hope that far less time goes by before my next visit, because sometimes absences can be corrosive for healthy relationships. It’s much easier to imagine things about one another- good or bad- when we’re not often together.
You have experienced a difficult year, to be sure. You have struggled with several internal governance issues that are pivotal for your future direction. You have faced a brutal attack on the coffee plants by the coffee rust disease that has decimated your harvests. Your cooperative has taken on significant debt, just at a time when economic resources have become very tight. At times, you must wonder if there is any future for the cooperative and, if so, whether it will be worth your effort to participate. I have some ideas about that which I thought I should share with you, even though I’m just a North American visitor to your part of Nicaragua.
First, about those governance issues. There is no better time to repair them than now. Organizations always seem to have management problems that need fixing. Most often, they come about when an individual or small group of members assume more authority and power than they’re entitled to. As a result, they are inclined to become less open, less transparent, with the other members of the coop. They begin to make decisions without a broad consensus. And in time, the decisions that are made tend to favor that same group of decision-makers, even if the choices being made hurt others in the collective. That seems to be at least part of what you have had to face lately, and I feel sad that you have experienced what becomes a lack of trust and confidence in your own organization. After all, you “own” the cooperative and it should be working for the benefit of all members, not just a few.
When an organization is performing well economically enough so that everyone is benefitting, governance problems like those described above may be tolerated by the members; after all, why fix something that doesn’t seem to be broken too badly? But when difficulties arise, the “rocks in the water” become visible and floating downstream is unsteady. The problems become more visible, more painful, less tolerable. It seems like that’s where you are today. So, there is no reason to delay facing the troubles and addressing their corrections. The best time to bail out a boat is when it begins to leak!
The good news is that your repair kit is already in your hands. Your leadership has changed. It is leadership that wants you to be part of the solution, wants you to know what is happening within the coop so that collectively the best possible decisions can be reached. The solutions to your organizational problems are in your own hands; there is no greater wisdom about your needs, your obstacles and your future than in your own experiences. You might not have all the answers, but if you are working together you can discover where to find them. No one of us is as smart as all of us. My question would be: what are you waiting for? Your need is now. Your new leadership is now. The coop needs you and your commitment to make it succeed, for everyone this time.
Second, the coffee rust. Wow, what an unexpected disaster! I know that this fungus has been around before, but maybe never quite like this year. You have said that partly it’s due to the weather pattern. Or maybe from a depletion in the soil. Others have blamed the high incidence of infestation on the lack of sufficient preventive practices of some producers. Or even the type of coffee plant that is grown. I’m not a biologist or coffee technician, but I suspect that the epidemic was created from a combination of all those causes. There’s rarely a simple answer to something that has created such a massive loss. But there is an answer, right?
It’s going to be the same thing with regard to its solution. It’s unlikely that any one answer is going to prevent a reoccurrence of another disastrous harvest. But there are answers, as proven by some of your colleague producers who suffered far less damage this year. It may require a commitment to invest more than in the past. In turn, that may require a deferral of certain purchases or expenses for personal goods. But whatever the solutions may prove to be, they will be far more effective, far more consistent, if you decide to adopt them as a community of coop members. That suggests learning from one another- coop to coop- more than in the past; it’s like having free answers to problems just by talking with one another. I guess I’m back to the organization issue: you’re much stronger together than you can possibly be apart. Winds of Peace commissioned a study on the causes of the rust problem earlier this year. I think it’s important reading, if you haven’t already seen it. Let me know if you need to have a copy of it.
Third, this debt of yours that seems way too big to ever conquer. I know that it looks unsurmountable, and that the holders of the debt might even be threatening the coop with all kinds of legal actions and consequences. But I think taking action from a posture of panic can lead to some pretty bad results. So I’d suggest addressing the issue with great deliberation and care, not speed and reaction.
For starters, Winds of Peace has continued its commitment to you in one form or another, so that’s a positive. We’re not in a position to remove all of your debt, for sure. But having an initial partner, an initial sum from which to work, we at least have a chance of getting through the storm represented by debt. You have some technical expertise available through consultants and organizations who really want to see you succeed. You’ve even got resources for legal help to discover a solution that can work for everyone involved, IF the coop is willing to do what it takes to survive. I’m not saying that’ll be easy or pleasant or a short-term answer. But few things of lasting value ever are. I happen to believe that your coop is worth keeping. I have the confidence and faith in your collective abilities, otherwise Winds of Peace wouldn’t be partnering with you in the ways that we are. But the work is yours, and it will be difficult.
Well, I guess I’ve said more than I ought to in this letter. After all, it’s easy for an outsider to give lots of opinions. After having my say, I get to walk away and can forget the tasks that you have. But I won’t. I think about you every day, with the hope and the belief that the opportunity you still have in front of you is worth fighting for. And I’ll keep paying attention until you either decide to give up or reach success. Let me know how things are going!
The task of survival among small, rural cooperatives in Nicaragua is not an easy one. Any success beyond subsistence requires an uncommon blend of resources, technical help, favorable weather, sufficient labor and knowledge of the land, agriculture, organizational strengthening, marketing, logistics, reinvestment, strategic planning and community development. In short, a producer must cultivate not only a crop, but also his/her ability to see things whole. Within the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, it’s especially daunting, and recognition for any success that might be encountered along the way is so infrequent as to be non-existent.
So when one of these first-tier cooperatives receives front-page attention in the business section of one of the major newspapers serving the country, it’s big news for those who labor so anonymously for so little in return. This is precisely what has happened with the people of the Jose Alfredo Zeladon cooperative (JAZ, for short) from the San Juan del Rio Coco area of north central Nicaragua. JAZ has been a long-time partner of Winds of Peace and has consistently demonstrated its commitment to an holistic vision of the cooperative and its impacts. And while we have had our own good feelings about the organization for many years, it’s nice to hear others recognizing the positive development of this very grassroots group.
Here’s what the article had to say, along with some photos provided from our own visits to JAZ territory:
Efficient Cooperativism
The 170 coffee growing members of the Jose Alfredo Zeledon cooperatives of San Juan de Río Coco are recognized for their capacity for organization, management and productivity.
by William Aragón Rodríguez
The rows of the trees with branches full of hundreds of red or green fruit, and that inside protect the coveted grains of coffee on the mountainous farms covered with mist, are a matter of pride in each year of harvest for the small scale members of the Jose Alfredo Zeledon coffee cooperatives in the municipality of San Juan de Rio Coco, an area loced in the eastern part of the Madriz Province. This is because the productivity of their plants represents an alternative of economic income in their homes and a work opportunity in the coffee harvest for the rest of their families and outsiders.
Healthy Coffee
This multifunctional cooperative, that for organizations of financial credit is an example of organization that has allowed their members to have access to economic loans, was founded in 1995 with barely 35 members that were able to produce some 300 sacks of coffee. Now they are 170 small coffee growers who are producing more than 10,000 quintals of good quality red bean. The members dispersed in most of the communities that make up the municipality of San Juan de Río Coco, an area considered to be the most coffee growing area of the region of Las Segovias, had their own economic fund available to be used in the support of the development plans of the farms of each one of the producers.
Raul Gonzalez points this out, who works with the cooperative and who assures that the technical assistance in the field has contributed to the maintenance and ongoing care of the coffee farms, the renovation and plantation of new rows that have helped the members to produce and sell excellent quality coffee.
AFFECTED BY THE COFFEE RUST, BUT THEY PROVIDED A RESPONSE
Edmundo López Muñoz, founder and leader of the José Alfredo Zeledón cooperative, revealed that this coffee cycle 2012-2013, that was affected by the coffee rust and antracnosis, allowed only 3,000 quintals of the production to go out, that historically had been 15,000. “The coffee rust and antracnosis did away with some 550 manzanas of coffee of the 1,080 cultivated and the losses go beyond 80% of the production,” pointed out López Muñoz. This forced the members to seek alternative solutions to the problem, many convinced that the Government has not shown an interest in helping, which is why they went to experts in coffee growing, principally on the issue of the coffee rust and antracnosis.
Coffe Rust
“We use the leaf spray Mo-enzima, which helps to resolve the low assimilation of nitrogen in the plant and so the coffee adapts better to the hydric stress, to high temperatures and higher solar radiation that climate change is creating,” said López, showing the results of the farm of member Jose Pillo Montalvan Olivas from the area of Matapalo, in San Juan de Rio Coco, who is recovering from the coffee rust.
Many affected members will have to renovate entire plantings of coffee or cut back to the stem, but they are clear that they are going to have to wait some four years to see the first harvest. Meanwhile, they will have to plant other products.
Coffee Hull Stoves
What most stands out about the Jose Alfredo Zeledon cooperative is the organizatonal capacity of its members and the management that its board members have, who are promoting some projects like the making of metal stoves based on coffee hulls that reduce the consumption of firewood, decreasing environmental damage and the felling of trees in the zone. They are also producing honey, they are planting a variety of food products and are raising a diversity of household animals for their reproduction and sale like poultry, pigs, goats and fish raised on ponds built to harvest water.
As another accomplishment, the members thenselves have a store of food products to benefit the families´homes, and they receive credit, ongoing training and technical advice for improving their coffee farms.
Own Resources
Edmundo and Store Mural
López Munoz said that the members have a fund available for the improvement of their coffee farms. “Now we are testing a product that strengthens the least affected plants and working on the renovation of the most affected plants,” he indicated. The most important thing is that now they are selling their produce directly without intermediaries and training the children of the members.
Data about the cooperative
242 kilometers from Managua is the location of the José Alfredo Zeledón coffee cooperative of San Juan de Río Coco.
JAZ Store
186,000 quintals of coffee is what is produced each year in the municipality of San Juan de Río Coco, in Madriz.
1,080 manzanas of coffee is owned by the 170 members of the cooperative that generates some 15,000 sacks.
7 million cordobas are the funds they have currently available.
The article may seem sparse and maybe even a little matter-of-fact for a recognition piece. But make no mistake about the fact that front-page placement for this story underscores an importance, an accomplishment to be emulated, and the message is clear: there ARE models in the countryside which are working. JAZ happens to be one of them for as long as they can maintain their holistic focus and willingness to balance their short-term wants with their long-term needs. We’re very proud of them, to be working with them, and that others are coming to recognize their work and ethic….
One of the overriding experiences from my travels in Nicaragua last week was my introduction to “coffee rust,” and the toll it will take on rural Nicaraguan lives. Without being too biological, I want to share a sobering reality.
This fungal disease of coffee plants has been a fact of life for Nicaraguan coffee producers forever, but conditions this year provided a “perfect storm” of circumstances which have allowed the disease to impact this year’s coffee harvest in unprecedented fashion. Some government estimates suggest that more than 30% of the entire country’s harvest will be lost. But I know from our visits last week that the decimation of the harvest among many small, grassroots producers will be far greater than that. For many, the coffee plague will signal the end of their livelihoods.
The rust might seem to pose a relatively minor threat. Its presence is not unusual, the effects largely attack the leaves of the plants and when noticed, the spread of the fungus can be usually halted through timely and well-executed pruning. It is regarded as one of the pests of coffee farming but not a doomsday condition from which there is no chance of recovery. Perhaps that was the prevailing attitude of some farmers when they first noted the symptoms: large spots widening on the leaves, leaving a telltale rust coloring around the serrated edges of holes that eventually form. But the rust carries another attribute, as well. By destroying the leaves and thus weakening the plants, the rust creates an opening for other diseases to raid the plants. And in this year’s cycle of production, that other disease was something called antracnosis.
Antracnosis kills the coffee plant. With deadly consistency, it ravages the plants with amazing speed and ruin. It is an infestation which, in most cases, cannot be eradicated by any means other than uprooting and destroying the entire plant. That means renovation, or planting new coffee trees, is the only way forward for the farms afflicted. But with a minimum of three years before new plants yield a harvest, it’s a strategy that many rural producers cannot afford; three years without income is not an option. And for the rural impoverished, acquiring financing on a non-collateralized basis for three years is only a pipe dream. Even Winds of Peace will struggle with project request circumstances like that.
One of the afflicted areas is that of our women’s cooperative partner, COMUNEC. (See my blog of February 2, 2012, “The Simplicity of Joy.”) We have worked for more than a year with these women, who have shown determination, focus, a penchant for hard work and a joy in the undertaking of it. They demonstrated success in both their organizational development as well as their coffee-producing activities during their first year, and have shown great excitement in approaching their second cycle of growing on their land. And suddenly, within weeks, the awful reality of the coffee diseases took the life from their plants and their futures in utter dispassion. As we visited several of the small plots belonging to the women, I witnessed the face of loss, not only in the barren branches of the lifeless coffee trees, but also in the faces of the young women who had put so much hope and effort into nurturing them. The sight is heartbreaking in both directions and can shake anyone’s optimism to the core. The plight of these small plots is severe enough- estimated in some cases at 80% loss- that many of the small producers will not be able to recover.
Success stories here and from other funding entities often have the feel of triumph, weakness prevailing over strength, good over evil, right over wrong. Such anecdotes make us feel as though the world is ultimately a place that makes sense, where our persistence and dedication pay off the way we all intuitively feel they should. I like to write about those stories, too, because they allow me to tout the belief that the world is in some sort of proper order, that we can count on certain outcomes if we just know the rules of the game we’re playing. But sometimes the outcomes don’t match the integrity of the efforts or the rules we thought we must follow. Injustice comes in many forms, political, economic, social structures and yes, even from Mother Nature herself. And sometimes, all we can do is to stand with our partners and be present with them in the face of loss….
One of the hopes that I had held during my years at Foldcraft Co. was that some day we might be able to compete successfully enough to acquire one of our local competitors, Waymar. We actually engaged in conversations with the owner of the company who was contemplating his own retirement, but we never could advance the conversations in any substantive way. You might imagine my sense of satisfaction, then, when last month Foldcraft completed the process of acquiring that company and its subsidiary in Seattle, Washington. Some good things just take time to develop.
The acquisition wasn’t free, of course. The employee owners of Foldcraft have their work cut out for them in order to make a success out of this acquisition. They will have to learn new things. They will have to familiarize themselves with the way that Waymar conducted its business. They will have to envision changes that can be made to blend the two manufacturing operations. They will have to learn about an entirely new set of customers and their demands. They will have to make Waymar a profitable enterprise if they are to cover the debt incurred from the purchase, and almost certainly surprises will be encountered along the way. The two cultures will have to be blended into one, and a collaborative workforce will have to be fashioned out of two previously competing ones. A great deal of education within both companies will be required. When you stop to consider all of the hurdles that exist in such a transaction, it sounds downright risky.
That’s one of the realities about being in business of any sort: every one has both its risks and rewards. It’s never any different. If success was guaranteed in any particular economic undertaking, everyone would be doing it. But the tensions between the risks and rewards are what make the success stories so compelling to us. We marvel at the obstacles that successful enterprises have overcome, and we listen longingly to tales of financial success, often concluding that we should be able to accomplish as much. Whether a cooperative in rural Nicaragua or a factory on the plains of Minnesota, we love to hear stories that affirm the notion that unlikely- even miraculous- things can and do happen despite the odds.
As a member-owned company, Foldcraft will tackle the challenge in the manner that best assures success, a process that will draw upon some truths and methodologies which pertain to organizational life everywhere. The first thing that management will do is to recognize that people need to know. Leaders will ensure that members understand clearly the risks mentioned above and what exactly will be required to counter those risks. Truth will not be a luxury but a necessity, because where information is lacking, rumors will fill the void and success cannot be built upon innuendo. There will be nothing automatic about success in this venture, and the owner-members absolutely must know the truths of their new organization, good and bad.
Engagement will require that the members of the organization- Foldcraft and Waymar both- become educated in the new organization’s success equation, those elements that must occur in order for the new business to succeed. Unfortunately, in all too many organizations even today, members simply do not have knowledge about what creates success for their business. They only know that they perform certain activities which they have been directed to do, without knowing why or how those activities synchronize with the efforts of others in the organization. As in any game, the objective is to score, and the players need to understand how those points are made, how certain actions and reactions mesh within the company to reach the goals. They want to know how to win. In the case of Foldcraft, principles of open book management will teach members exactly what needs to happen for success and then will track success (or failure) so that members know whether they are winning or losing the game.
Foldcraft will create ways for its members to be involved. The transition difficulties encountered simply won’t be able to absorb people who not fully engaged in its success; that’s a reality of any business. Participation of every member becomes magnified in an undertaking such as this. The company will continue to assemble teams and special project groups to address issues, and for at least two reasons. First, even when members are excited about contributing to change and improvement, they may not fully recognize what role they should play or where to begin. The leaders of Foldcraft can help with that by “positioning the players.” Second, sustainable and effective change needs the wisdom and experiences from as many sources as possible, and that means broad member involvement from all areas of the organization. Foldcraft has already utilized this approach as it was performing its evaluation of Waymar as a possible acquisition. Teams of Foldcraft people were involved in assessing factors such as financial health and transparency, company ethics and integrity, employee safety, production methods, opportunities for improvement, marketplace strategies and more. Members of Foldcraft shared the responsibility of gathering and evaluating this information under the belief that “no one of us is as smart as all of us.” As a result, the evaluation was performed more rapidly and thoroughly than it would have been with only a few involved.
Finally, success of the new organization requires that there is a reward for all of the effort and responsibility-taking exhibited by members at both worksites. In addition to strengthening their job security by forging a stronger company, the members of Foldcraft are owners of their enterprise. By participating in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) of the firm, the members are the ones who benefit from stock growth. And that wealth accumulation can have a major impact on those members who remain with the company for many years. The incentive to make this acquisition successful is firmly in place, for those members who want the chance to make a better future for themselves and their families.
Of course, Foldcraft knows that success is not fated. It’s only an opportunity, as any enterprise is. The good news is that the truths and methodologies mentioned above are ones that resonate with most of us. They feed a human need to belong, to understand, to contribute, to succeed, to be part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s a truth that transcends national and cultural boundaries because it touches something deep in our psyches, something innately human.
Some organizations allow opportunity to slip through its hands, whether through leadership power struggles or greed or lack of transparency or too few members being seriously involved; good ideas die every day at the hands of ignorance and self-centeredness. Success stories, though, emerge from the foment of universal truths that absolutely lie within our reach when we’re willing to stretch….
