Heading into our panel shop today, I'm struck by the sound of an audio book playing on Bill's speaker. Wait a minute, is that "The Iliad"? It most certainly is, and while he's building panels, he's also listening to one of the pinnacles of Western Literature. Right here in little old Havre de Grace, Maryland.
As I mentioned in the first installment of this series, the heights you reach when listening to something as timeless and classic as The Iliad, in our shop we can easily match in depths in the other direction, with memes, videos, jokes, etc. However, it struck me as remarkable that a poet from many centuries ago in Ancient Greece could still be capturing ears (which makes sense given that the poem was originally sung rather than read).
What does it mean?
I take it to mean that some things are timeless and last across the centuries and across civilizations, and still have meaning and worth. Pretty heady stuff to try to connect to what's happening in our panel shop.
I asked Bill about what attracted him to the idea of listening to "The Iliad" again (he originally read it in high school). He told me first that the story telling, with all the maneuvering of the mortals and the gods, is captivating. He also mentioned how he can relate to the humans at the heart of the story, and the things that drive their actions. And then he spoke about realizing how far people are willing to go when driven by passions, whether it be Achilles' rage which was ultimately overcome by his thirst for lasting glory and honor, Agamemnon's lust for power and glory, or Priam's simple act of love for a son defeated and killed in battle.
People with a purpose always accomplish far more than those without. Homer, whoever he was, had a purpose in creating his epics, which no doubt lasted considerably beyond his imaginings. The players in his epics also had purpose, although not always with good ends in mind.
For Pendant the challenge is not nearly so lofty. But it does lend purpose. How do we create something lasting that will sustain this small community we call a business, so it can grow and sustain future generations of team members? We've spoken of our core purpose in earlier posts:
"We believe that focusing on building a great team is the key to being a great company.
Pendant’s core purpose therefore is to attract, hire, support, teach, and inspire people who believe in our core values, who in turn will conduct themselves the Pendant Automation way, and help Pendant build lasting, productive relationships with every person with whom we do business."
There it is. Let's start by finding good people that believe in the things we believe in. Let's create a place where they feel valued, and they will motivate themselves to build something that lasts. Then future team members will relate to the passions that inspired it, and continue to grow it, many years from now.
I know that's quite a leap - from Homer to Pendant. But I think it works. Cynics will say it's just a bunch of flowery BS. But we hire people with purpose, not cynics.
If that inspires you somehow, try us on for size.
As for Bill, I'm pretty sure the Odyssey is next. At least until Brad hits him with a hilarious meme.