Caution! Ninja Work Zone!
As I write this we are having an off-site Ninja work day at the Loading Dock in Grafton, IL. Nestled between the bluffs and the mighty Mississippi River, the Loading Dock is a Jimmy Buffet-esque outdoor bar and grill where you sit listening to Led Zepplin and Lynard Skynard blare on the satellite radio and watch the barges on the river pass by.
Usually inundated by bikers and convertible riders taking a break from the Great River Road on the weekends, the Loading Dock (complete with wi-fi) is the perfect office for Ninjas on a 78-degree workday.
We use this time to get out clients’ social media updated, their blogs written, their marketing strategies implemented, and our brainstorming done. We also use it to do some Ninja bonding.
There’s something about driving up the Great River Road, a mere thirty miles from Ninja Central, with our hair blowing, the tunes blaring, and the possibilities endless that makes us Ninjas center and bond. And, we have a helluva good time.
We know we are lucky, our small crew, to have each other. We bounce ideas off one another, we implement crazy marketing strategies together, we support one another. We also care for one another and would move heaven and earth for each other. We are, after all, Ninjas.
I think about company culture, especially in corporate America, and I wonder if they ever know the feeling we have at Think Tank. I am lucky, as Head Ninja, to set the tone of the culture at Think Tank. I’m lucky that I set the precedent for caring about one another, supporting one another, and – well – partying together. Do those white collars in corporate America know their employees favorite songs? Favorite colors? Dreams and aspirations? Fears? Do they know them as people? I doubt it.
I think about how our company gels, how we are far more effective as one cohesive unit. I think company culture is integral to the success of a business, I know it is to ours. And, it’s why we all love coming to work.
Think about it. Aren’t employees – heck, anyone! – more apt to care about their performance and the work the put out if they feel cared about? Noticed? Appreciated? I know I do!
All I know is that I know my Ninjas – inside and out. I know ‘em in a way a Mom knows their kid’s voice in a room full of 100 kids screaming, “Hey, Mom!” And, man, do I love them.
Now back to brainstorming…I mean, we have to – CCR’s “Rollin’ On The River” is on. In fact, I think it’s time for a Ninja hula-hoop dance break along the river. (Oh wait…didn’t I mention the Loading Dock has hula-hoops? Ohhhhhhhhh yeah they do!)