Merge

Half of team Merge took a retreat this past weekend.  It was a two-fold deal, first, experience what our newest client has to offer so we can rock their Digital Strategy.  The Mountain Club at Cashiers invited us up to stay for the weekend to get a real feel for what sets them apart.  We owe them a huge thank you, it really is an incredible place.  The second premise, get better.  On a lot of fronts.  We think we are the best at what we do.  We have a team of incredible people, all specialists in their respective areas.  This doesn't mean we shouldn't dig deep and see if we can do things better. 

To help facilitate the process was our friend and consultant Cliff Smith.  I can't tell you how much added value you get from an outside resource, especially one as good as Cliff.  He was really able to get us outside our own heads, and think of ways we could improve we would not have thought of on our own.  The path managed to lead us from our own internal processes to Spain of all places.  To make sense of that, towards the end we were given the question "Wouldn't it be great if we were like...?"  What companies, organizations and even countries would we look like given the choice.  Lots of answers bubbled to the surface, including Spain which immediately came to mind based on three months of vacation, afternoon naps and tapas.   There were obviously some great companies mixed in, and the entire session made us think about what really motivates us to improve.  Money, quality of life, sheer competition, fantastic work. What is it really and how can we get there? 

Bottom Line:  The answer is probably different for everyone, but until you start asking the questions, you'll never start improving.