Legendary Blog
Legendary is the Journey, not the Goal.
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Category : Business & Philanthropy |
On January 8, 2012, Novartis kicked off the new year with more than just good intentions. Donating $9,500 and 120 One World Futbols to Indian Summer Camp, a place for children who are going through or recovering from cancer, this company took intentional actions to make a difference in the lives of others.
Taking team building to a new level, these 850 participants were challenged with some unique tasks. Split into 60 teams these individuals were challenged to take something of little or no value to us and turn it into something remarkable.
Each team was given a bag of trash and two goals. Create a product that will change the world and build a soccer ball that kids will enjoy. Items that you or I might see as worthless were the pinnacle building blocks to these creations.
Clothe and water bottles manifested into an H20 filtration systems and rubber tubing and plastic bags morphed into durable soccer balls. It is truly amazing what is possible when you shift your perspective.
Building a dream in the most literal sense, the creative gurus of A to Z Media came together to build three bicycles for three very special guests.
On a day that painted the pictures of a traditional team building experience, these individuals built much more than that. With the foundation of their core beliefs and a destination of taking intentional actions, A to Z Media journeyed to discover and rediscover a company of legendary individuals.
Look around and you will witness a massive shift in consciousness and lifestyle. We are currently at a global transformation in socially conscious ideas and actions.
From industrialization to interlinking technology we are are perhaps the most important shift yet. One that shapes a community of individuals, teams, and organizations into mediums of positive and social change.
From this point, building teams, and individuals for that matter, is no longer blindfolds and trust falls but an emotional connection to something much larger - impacting the lives of others.
We are never truly aware of the ripple effects of our actions. Whether it is walking down the street or meeting a prospective client for a 10 o clock meeting, we only see a sliver of the impact we create.
What is a dream? The word gets tossed around in our day to day lives eluding to hopes and desires. By its very definition, a dream is unreal, intangible, and breeches the realm of possibility. It is a world of our creation, and yet on December 9, 2011, 620 participants of DeVry Inc. took a dream and turned it into a reality.
Lead by James Carter, Founder of Be Legendary, this group of extraordinary individuals uncovered the very essence of their legendary lives. What we do and how we do it are motivated by the underlining belief of why.
Everything we do can be traced back to this basic question. And so on this not so ordinary Friday morning, each individual was challenged to think of and talk about the question of why.
With a seemingly ambiguous three word question, participants asked one another, “Who are you?” The answers were profound as people not only discovered the values of others, but also values of themselves.
“Imagine a golf green surrounded by water,” said James Carter. “What are our initial thoughts?”
Voices from the crowded shouted, “Don’t hit the ball in the water!”
“Exactly!”, smiled James. “But what is it we really want?”
Last week on a rainy Tuesday morning, 35 Novo Nordisk employees were gathering for a 2-hour team building event. Ah, team building. It can be like nails on a chalkboard. Some people look at it as a break from their daily routine, while others look at it as a complete waste of time. Together you get a group of people showing up with a filter of predispositions and a word that has ignited them all!
Little did they know, what they were actually going to be doing that day was much more experiential. From the very beginning of this 2 hour escapade there was an immediate nose dive from the expected as participants were challenged to become aware of the small opportunities that surround them on a daily basis.
This limbo had only started as they played a little game we like to call "Who are you?" Participants were challenged to communicate in terms that bypass surface levels of communication and unveil the very core beliefs of who we are. Not only was this a great discovery of the people that surround them on a day to day basis, but this was also a rediscovery of one's self.
Mission: Build 20 Jamis Bicycles
Team: Bain Capital
Location: Lenox, Massachusetts
Outcome: Change the lives of 20 extraordinary children
Changing Mission Impossible to Mission Unstoppable, we have launched yet another successful bike build in beautiful Lenox, Massachusetts. Teaming up with an extraordinary team of individuals at Edgework Consulting, we set up tables where 20 large, rectangular cardboard boxes covered by table clothes sat.
Bain Capital was launching their first day of a company retreat. What the participants did not know was that unlike the mesh of memories from previous retreats and conferences, they would soon form some very distinct and meaningful memories from this otherwise ordinary Monday morning.
How far do our actions really reach? Is there a way to measure the cusp of our impact? Or do they ignite an endless ripple effect building off the tiniest droplet of change?
Knowing the effects of our actions is quite impossible, but understanding the worth in taking them could not be more clear. That variable of greatness will always be present, even when it comes to the tiniest or seemingly insignificant gestures or tasks.
Unmasking our legendary potentials breaks through to the most extraordinary outcomes. In working with a Fortune 500 company, we were able to bring bicycles to 45 underprivileged children in Lisbon, Portugal this past month.
Each team worked together to build these bicycles for very special children, who until now, never had the opportunity to own one.
“If it isn’t fun, why do it?” says Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Its ironic that what many of us dread, another day of work, is supposed to be an environment for productivity, creativity, and innovation.
Work and play are considered opposite ends of the spectrum. But can the two co-exist? Can we have some fun and dare I say even enjoy going into work? And if we can, what does that mean for results and outcomes?
David Ogilvy, head of an advertising agency says, “Make it fun to work at your agency. When people aren’t having fun they seldom produce good advertising.”
“Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father,” said Roger von Oech.
Yet when the idea of play is brought up, it’s like violating the sacred sanctuary of the office. It will only distract and detract. What other offices incorporate play into their work culture? Aren’t casual Friday’s sufficient?
A company seeks for its employees to generate new ideas. This is accomplished by the unexpected joining of two old elements creating something new. Bringing fun to the workplace could not only produce innovation, but the joining of these two elements is innovation.
Profits, gross income, benefits, minimal cost - all typical terms for a successful business. The goal of the game, maximize the above. The problem is when crisis hits, which it always does, business as usual is no longer the ideal.
Something new must breakthrough, and breakthrough it has. For years the word philanthropic had no place in corporate business plans, but now we begin to see a change, a shift in stride, and a restoration of success. Philanthropic business is good business.
One of the biggest examples is TOMS shoes. Founded not more then five years ago, this extraordinary company is a giant. But how?
They must have had some elaborative advertising campaign, putting themselves at the forefront of their industry. But, a further investigation would reveal no such efforts. Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes discovered that if you do something good you don’t need to advertise or market.






