Adventures with Dave

A fictional tale of a young executive who is trying to find his way back to Denver after a job interview in Chicago and a snowstorm causes his to divert his travel plans to the rails. Little did he know…

this diversion would lead him to Kip and the “Eight Principles that lead to greater productivity, quality, job satisfaction, and profits”? This is a book report by David Sellers on the book “A Journey into the Heroic Environment” by Rob Lebow.

As the day comes to an end for John Spencer he leaves an interview with the President of a perspective new employer. John was seeking what many people are looking for in their jobs and life. A place to feel respected and a place where you feel like you matter to someone. John’s journey seems all too familiar to me. As I was a younger man I wanted a job to be fulfilling, a place to find satisfaction in life. I soon found out much like John that you rarely find satisfaction from a job alone.

John soon finds himself in a train compartment with Stan Kiplinger an older wiser businessman traveling along the same path. After engaging John about his journey Kip, as his friends call him starts to impart his wisdom by stating “All jobs have pluses and minuses. But I learned that it is possible to find fulfillment in almost any job. In fact I GUARANTEE that you can, too.” (pg Like John I would have been skeptical at those words in my earlier days. Like Kip something had to change for him to find satisfaction in his job. He discovered that one needs to stop looking for the “Perfect Job” and “the secret to job satisfaction is the way you treat others and how it causes others to treat you.” (pg 10)

Kip begins to explain how to find such an environment beginning with us. We often get caught up in our own world and become very selfish in the things that we want and turn to looking at the faults of others and blame everyone else for why we are miserable. As I look back on some of my work experiences I realize that most of the people I had worked with were good people who wanted to do a good job and really wanted the company to succeed. All they needed was a Hero to lead them.

As Kip begins to reveal the Eight Principles of the Heroic Environment I can’t help but to think of how these “Principles” are not anything new but a reflection of Biblical principles and the original Hero, Jesus Christ. As Jesus chose his 12 disciples and interacted with them he didn’t come to create the “Perfect world” but to show his disciples how to make a difference in the world around them. “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your salve-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-29, NIV) Jesus tells us we need to become servants and slaves to be come great. So Jesus becomes the greatest hero by sacrificing himself for our sins in the ultimate act of service, giving his life as a substitute for our sins.

The principles are as follows:
1. Treat others with uncompromising truth.
2. Lavish trust on your associates.
3. Mentor unselfishly.
4. Be receptive to new ideas regardless of their origin.
5. Take personal risk for the organization’s sake.
6. Give credit where credit is due.
7. Do not touch dishonest dollars.
8. Put the interest of others before yourself.

With these principles John begins to understand how he can to create a Heroic environment. John begins to question, “How do I go about finding a company with a genuine Heroic Environment?” (pg 37) Kip informs him that you need to look for a company that “Walks the Talk”. Many companies promote values, slogans and programs to make the work environment a better place or a place that will be successful. It is only those places that practice what they preach that will be able to sustain a Heroic Environment. Kip also warns that all of the principles must be adopted in order to be a truly heroic environment.

As companies are constantly looking for ways to improve they are trying to put programs in place to sustain quality, or standards. According to Kip, a company will not be able to sustain a Heroic Environment until you “have the proper environment in place.” (pg 49)

John is perplexed about how to start making a difference in his company when Kip reveals the Five Behavior Traits it takes to make a heroic environment.
1. Give and receive permission to act with autonomy.
2. Treat others as significant.
3. Make everyone feel like an insider.
4. Trust.
5. Act with integrity.

With these traits one can start to make a difference to create a heroic Environment. When those around you begin to feel that you value them and their abilities and you are acting with integrity it empowers them to rise to something better. It seems like some of these things are common sense and should be how to operate, but too often managers act as if they are the only ones who can get the job done or they are the only ones who truly care. When coworkers and associates are free to feel valued and significant then they are free to act heroically without fear or self-preservation. Then they will be able to build trust and act with integrity.

Kip then goes on to explain the four corporate personality traits that exist within companies. First is the Hero, who is the one who makes things happen. Mavericks are the next group who are the free thinkers and often are the ones who come up with the new ideas. Third are the 9 to 5’ers who are the heart of a company. Lastly there are the dissidents, who have once been a hero, maverick or 9 to 5’er that has felt like they are now on the outside. These Dissidents need to be listened to and brought back into the loop. The fact is that a company needs all types in order to function properly. No one type can function without the other.

As John nears the end of his trip he has begun to learn the Principles and Behavior traits it will take to make a Heroic Environment. He has learned that it takes all the Principles to make this environment work and all types of personality traits. When you can begin to make others feel valued and all share a common vernacular of values then one will have a Heroic Environment. With a renewed sense of purpose John is ready to go back to his company and start creating such an environment.

With my experience in the corporate world I have seen many of these problems and personality traits that have gone unchecked. I have seen the damage that Dissenters can do when they turn into a terrorist. Companies and people suffer in the wake of destruction that can lead to mistrust, hurt feelings and failed companies. I wish I could have read this book at least 10 years ago so I could have been a hero instead of a 9 to 5’er that left a company because of dissenter.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 5:18 pm and is filed under NEC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.