Letter on the Third — September 2021

Dear Datamax Family,

In the book “Gung Ho,” author Ken Blanchard writes this:

“Human minds, when linked to a common purpose, are like a series of linked computers. Together they achieve infinitely more than they would acting alone …. When it comes to enthusiasm, the mind is again similar to a computer. I can program my computer to be a word processor or an analyzer of engineering designs. I can program my brain to be unhappy with every eventuality, or to look forward enthusiastically to the day ahead.”

Our collective company culture is what generates that enthusiasm. It’s what encourages us on the way to the office, and also what positively impacts those around us throughout a workday. We’re ALL capable of being what I like to call Culture Champions. We should embrace the ways we are unique, yet remain single-minded in our mission... and our responsibility to upholding it.

Being a Culture Champion – someone who cultivates excitement, believes wholly in our mission, and wears our logo proudly (whether it’s visible or not) - is an ongoing journey. While I always say we never truly “arrive,” here’s a few directions for our collective route together.

Navigating our Cultural “Waze.”

The bigger our company becomes, the more that subcultures play a role. Managing subcultures is like planning a trip. You plug your destination into the Waze App GPS, and discover that many optional routes appear. Marketplaces differ. Individual motivations vary. But when everyone is aligned on a destination, and understands what they need to accomplish, we accept and encourage different paths.

Achieving Overall Cultural Harmony.

Our philosophies and principles are outlined clearly in the Little Blue Book. But how do our values align? Harmony can be defined as the combination of multiple different, yet well-aligned, notes played simultaneously to produce an ear-pleasing effect. When it comes to subcultures, we need to determine if these are harmful or helpful. We have pivotal values, which are indispensable (think of the Little Blue Book). But we also have peripheral values (more flexible), that may vary from department or location. For leaders to root out the positive subcultures from the negative, they will need a deep understanding of the dominant company culture’s value system.

Coaching Culture Champions.

“People leave managers, not companies.” There’s a lot of truth to that statement. As we aim to become culture champions, I challenge our managers to create not only their own positive subcultures, but also a “culture of coaching” with their individual teams. If you are a manager, what makes your employees excel? What do they get excited about? How can you lead employees to self-discover pleasure with a purpose in their work?

We all have a purpose at Datamax. Being a Culture Champion fuels and unites that purpose. After all, together we achieve infinitely more than we would acting alone.

The Best is Yet to Be.