In our world of hyper-knowledge and control, something that comes up in
my conversations with others is a thirst to learn more about your craft,
be it creative, engineering, engagement management or any other role.
What marks a strong culture and an environment where "we" as the real
capital of a company want to be an active and enthusiastic part of it is
the investment we have in each other. Sometimes that can be based on
rank, or through a corporate policy, but mostly I find it comes from
watching and listening to each other - regardless of the discipline.
Anyone can tell someone what to do...sometimes called direction or
leadership (positive) or micromanagement and insecurity (negative).
Either way, it isn't what I would call mentoring.

I define mentoring with a two-fold description: the act of caring about
change in yourself and in others.

Being surrounded by smart, enthusiastic, eager people is a fantastic
opportunity for mentorship. While it may appear to be ideal (if
completely unrealistic) to have someone take you under their wing and
both nuture and shield you, we are all responsible for our own
development. Being open to mentorship opportunities can be difficult as
ego, personalities, and assumptions can prevent some from participating.

But I have found when I start to close down or shut off that is a yellow
flag that I have a choice to make. I can either change the flag to red
and stop listening, or I can put the flag aside and see the opportunity
to better myself. Every time I have it has paid off handsome dividends.
I am able to hear a different approach, a new way of thinking about
things, and even find myself gaining new information that I was
completely unaware of. For me learning new things is incredibly
exciting, being told I am a "knowledge worker" means I need to be
conscious that my value comes from creating opportunities to learn more.

What's my point? Well (jeez, tough crowd!), what I am proposing is that
we all take a day each week to practice, and react to things actively,
try to engage those around us and listen to their mentoring of us. It
can come from anyone, anywhere but taking the time to ask questions or
offering a platform for our collegues to talk to us will go a long way
to hearing about how others see problems, interact with their
environment and see what drives or motivates them.

This is about empathy (isn't it always?) but its empathy with
opportunity. I find myself surprised by what others hear me say, how
they react to it, how they respond both positively and negatively. Its
incredible how powerful and impactful we are to those around us, which
only reinforces how much we affect others and how we can be effected by
them.

Would love to know what others think about this - go ahead and use this
as a chance to mentor me.

Last week, Organic launched OrganicConnect, a way for former Organics to get back in touch with us and with each other. We felt it was important to remind employees that their part in the Organic community doesn’t stop when they leave the company. Former Organics can join several Yahoo! groups, befriend the Organic MySpace page, or send an email to alumni@organic.com.

In just a few days, our groups already have over 100 members and we are adding friends to our MySpace page daily! The feedback has been great, for the most part. Here are some of the comments that we have received:

• "Great idea to reconnect the group."
• "I enjoyed my time in Organic and wanted to keep in touch with old colleagues and keep abreast of how the company is doing.”
• "Thank you for starting this. I love Organic – the people, culture, and the work were awesome.”

We create online communities for a living. So, it was about time for Organic to levearge the Web to strengthen our own community.

Ann Freccero

P.S. The image above is from our 1997 website.  How far we’ve come!

Sometimes the hardest thing about starting a blog is naming it. We knew that we wanted to start a culture blog, but we weren't sure what to call it. So, we enlisted the help of everyone in the company. The list was truly impressive and I just had to share.

Here's the whole list of suggestions--most of them a play on the ThreeMinds concept, our company name, or the concept around a look at Organic on the inside:

- About Face
- The Head
- Scatterbrain
- Left + Right
- Two Cents
- One Love
- Beat
- Three Rings
- Dendrite
- OrgSpace OrgIn Circulation
- Ministry of Culture
- Stupid Organic Tricks
- Look at our Navel
- Internal Affairs (IAB)
- Buena Vista Panorama
- The Inside Scoop
- Inner Sanctum
- The Inner Circle
- Domestic Bliss
- Window Shopping
- Vantage Point
- Summit View
- Through the Looking Glass
- Source
- Mindroots
- Pesticide Free
- InOrganic
- Three's a Crowd
- Reverse Perspective
- Organically Grown
- Unknown Exceptions
- Chem.is.try
- Substratum
- Cultivate.organic.com
- Homegrown
- OneGoal
- Organic 411
- Body, Mind & Design
- Fresh Pickin's
- Head in the Clouds
- Thinking Outside the Sphere
- Exceptional
- Looking Outward
- Fast Forward
- Organic Unwired
- Harmony
- All Natural
- Organic Matter(s)
- OrganicEndeavor
- The Wire Envision
- InVision
- Origins
- SCAN
- Scan.organic.com
- Allhands.organic.com
- Organic Underground
- Freeminds

I think that we chose well. Although I have to say, Ministry of Culture was pretty darn tempting.

Amanda Van Nuys