Electrical, Appliances, Millwork, Community Analysis?

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to come out to Lowes HQ and speak at their Social Business Symposium.  It has been great getting to know the company from an internal business perspective.  Like many others, I know the company very well from a consumption perspective since I spend about every weekend there asking inane questions on everything from wiring to plumbing.  I was impressed how a traditional large retail oriented company can transition to a social business.  Lowes has varieties of internal communities both personal and business.  There is a belief that by developing any connections between employees there will be stronger ties.  Stronger ties leads to knowledge transfer, culture development, more engaged employees, perhaps even greater retention.  It’s an interesting transition in the corporate world where executives are beginning to understand that the value of personal social networks can be replicated within a business setting however it cannot be 100% focused on advancing the corporation.  There needs to be an understanding of the employee from a holistic perspective not simply as a cog in a large machine.  These activities are not simply a waste of time but help develop a culture of sharing.  It was mentioned that within one of their communities focused on gaming, connections were made from different groups where these folks would not connect within a business-centered community.  This leads to a myriad of benefits that, I believe, outweigh the risks and can lead to greater engagement/ interaction with stakeholders outside the company.  It’s a testament to their effort to have Robert Niblock (CEO) stop in and provide his support for their work and the benefits of developing a social enterprise. When I go to these events, most of the speakers discuss social business, social learning, etc.  They had one speaker, however, that was markedly different.  Victoria Labalme is a professional speaker and a classically trained actress.  She even studied under Marcel Marceau.  She discussed the importance of listening; she mimed on stage; she even performed a skit to demonstrate how our insanely crazy busy lives are not allowing us to connect with our through line. The through line is an acting term meaning the thread that links a character’s action to their motivations.  In this context, Victoria was trying to get the audience to discover their through line.  In part to help weed out all the noise and focus on what is important.  Victoria’s talk was different, hard to conceptualize and made me feel a little uncomfortable but that’s exactly what was needed.  I have been to so many of these events that I know the script.  Throwing a curve ball is good, understanding different experiences is good, getting uncomfortable is good….

As I tell my students when I teach innovation, getting out of you comfort zone is exactly what you need.  Complacency is bad.   Recently, I was quoted saying “complacency = death”.  If we are not rethinking our processes and measuring our decisions continuously than we are falling behind and not maturing as people and corporations.  Also, bringing in different experiences and viewpoints in my experience accelerates innovation (at least ideation).  Lastly, pride and purpose need to re-infused into the work environment.  We don’t live to work, we work to live.  Developing a social business, focusing on employees and not processes, providing tighter connectedness between different groups, and getting a little uncomfortable is a good recipe for developing culture and as I mentioned before culture trumps strategy….