Thoughts on Tom Epperson's Visits

I remember meeting and listening to Tom Epperson several years ago--Fall of 2007? Perhaps, I think--and the one thing I remember that differed from his talk with us last week is that in 2007, Tom considered Luck Stone a learning organization, whereas this time he did not. I think this is interesting, perhaps is related to where Luck Stone is right now in regards to its organizational life cycle. Given that the economic conditions have resulted in the loss of over 400 employees, and that their initiative to transform the culture into something that is values driven has been interrupted, it makes sense that he would feel this way. A few years ago they were in the midst of an intentional culture change--how empowering! Now, they are trying to keep afloat and find themselves in a reactive mode, reeling from the reality of lay offs--how humbling!

In the readings, I found a lot to consider in the chapter on Organizational Identity and Learning--and a lot that might apply to Luck Stone. The end of this chapter discusses the idea of play as an integral part of strategic management and future planning. Play in this sense means that the organization's leaders and managers would be allowed to envision many different futures and experiment or roleplay how the organization might fit into those futures. Tom did not speak specifically to the idea of play and experimentation, but he did speak to the current Charles in Charge communicating what Tom called a compelling vision--to change the world. Such a vision, to me, allows the organization to play with what the future might be, externally and internally. (In fact, the idea of Luck Stone getting into consulting or organizational development for other organizations who wanted to change their cultures seems to be an example of play and experimentation). I wonder if Luckstone has engaged in much play about the future, and I imagine that they have. They've certainly adjusted their identity in regards to environmental changes, as demonstrated by the development of their Charles Luck Stone Center, which is contrasted with their core business of rock aggregate.

I also wonder what the current initiative to increase customer focus and service satisfaction will do to the company's identity, if anything. Tom talked a bit about the guys who work in the rock quarries, and that currently Luck Stone will not inculcate this division with customer service but will focus on those that have to interact with customers the most--i.e. the sales force. Ultimately, though, the entire organization will need to be educated and acculturated to the idea, value and behaviors associated with a customer service focus. It will be interesting to see how the organization approaches those divisions that have an internal focus and who are very removed from external customers. An approach that might emphasize system openness and the interconnectedness of all things might be the best way to go--but the connections will still need to be made for it the guys in the quarry to see how what they do impacts the new homeowner who is shopping for stone tiles for the kitchen floor!