Latest news with #Barge
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Collaboration: The Key To Making Your Purpose, Vision, And Values Come Alive
Over the past few decades, many companies have taken steps to define and clarify their purpose (sometimes referred to as their mission), vision, and values. In their well-known 2004 book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras examined organizations that were over a hundred years old and the secret sauce that made them so enduringly successful. One of the key elements they found was having a mission statement that goes beyond just what the company does—a mission that serves a higher purpose in society, a vision statement outlining where they want to go, and values that truly matter. For example, one company I worked for, Barge Design Solution, Inc., is a national engineering and architecture firm—yet the company's purpose is not to produce engineering designs. Their purpose is to 'create a better life by unleashing the potential of our people, clients, and communities.' They fulfill that purpose through their design, engineering, and architectural projects in their communities. Barge's vision is 'to be the firm best known for being selected when it matters most.' The company is already fulfilling its vision in some of the cities and states where it operates; the dream is to accomplish this in all the cities and states where it operates. Purpose is a Process A purpose statement, a vision statement, and values are only powerful if they are intentionally and thoughtfully defined and articulated, which takes time, effort, and, perhaps most importantly, collaboration. When establishing the pillars of a company's culture, the process of engaging in conversation is just as important as the final product. I've seen leaders say, 'Okay, I'm going to figure out our purpose, vision, and values,' without taking the time to engage other people in this process. When this happens, the purpose, vision, and values belong solely to the leader, rather than to everyone. It's much harder to get your team engaged with and believing in your espoused direction and values if they were not involved in creating them. People are not connected to them. They forget about it. It doesn't become part of who they are. When we were defining Barge's purpose, vision, and values, we started out by having a half-day meeting with the executive team and asking, 'What is our mission? What is our vision? Where do we want to be? What are the important values that we want to live by? Why are we here?' We spent half a day just discussing these questions. How Purpose Emerges When I reported back to the CEO, I told him, 'Everyone on our team loves being here and loves working for you. However, we are not consistently saying things the same way. Not everyone describes the company's purpose in the same way. Not everyone is aware of the vision, values, and strategies. If your leadership team can't articulate these things, how can we expect our employees to do so? How do you expect our employees to know what is important?' We then took the entire leadership team offsite. We began with the draft purpose, vision, and values that I captured during the half-day session. As a team, we massaged it until everyone felt it aligned with their beliefs and priorities for the company. We spent an entire day discussing it, listening to every voice in the room, with every executive contributing. It truly came from—and became part of—who the executives were. If the process is truly collaborative and involves and incorporates the input of the executive team, the executive team will feel a sense of ownership and empowerment, the key elements of deeply rooted buy-in. People always need to be a part of the process. It's not just about producing the outcome; it's about making sure people are a part of its creation.
Time Out
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A major Rauschenberg exhibit is coming to the Guggenheim Museum this fall
A century ago this fall, Robert Rauschenberg was born in Texas. He went on to become a Pop art pioneer and one of the most renowned American artists of this era. Now, museums and galleries across the globe are planning shows that honor the artist's expansive creativity, spirit of curiosity and commitment to change. For its part, NYC's Guggenheim Museum on the Upper East Side will host a major show called " Robert Rauschenberg: Life Can't Be Stopped," running from October 10, 2025–April 5, 2026. The show will feature more than a dozen historic pieces, including Rauschenberg's monumental painting "Barge," all which reflects the artist's radical legacy. The Guggenheim's show will be drawn from its own collection as well as loans from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and focuses on the artist's experiments with using photographs in drawing, painting and printmaking. Rauschenberg's radial use of media imagery and commercial printing techniques led critics to associate him with Pop artists such as Andy Warhol. Like Warhol, Rauschenberg was also enamored with contemporary culture. As he once said to an interviewer, "I want paintings to be reflections of life, and life can't be stopped." Among the highlights of the Guggenheim show is the 32-foot-long silkscreen painting "Barge," mostly created over a 24-hour period in the early 1960s. It's joined by an untitled silkscreen 1963 painting, which introduced vibrant color into his work. One of the earliest pieces in the show is a piece from 1953 called "Untitled (Red Painting)," in which the artist layered brith red paint over a collaged newspaper. Other pieces show how his transfer methods evolved over the decades. The Guggenheim and Rauschenberg have had a long relationship over the years. The museum first included him in a 1961 group show, followed just two years later by a show called by Six Painters and the Object, which was the first museum exhibition of Pop art in New York. In 1997, the Guggenheim presented the most comprehensive retrospective of his career to date—a landmark exhibition spanning its building on Fifth Avenue, the former Guggenheim SoHo and a satellite gallery on Hudson Street. "Robert Rauschenberg's centennial is not only a moment to honor his legacy but also a call to renew our commitment to the radical curiosity and spirit of collaboration that defined his life and work," Courtney J. Martin, Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation said in a press release. "The Guggenheim has been a vital partner in sustaining that legacy." While you're at the Guggenheim also check out which features an extraordinary hanging garden. It's on view through January 18, 2026.
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Power Of Culture: It's Good Business!
Most adults spend the majority of their waking hours engaged with work in some fashion. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2024 American Time Use Survey, American adults spend an average of over eight hours a day working every weekday, and an average of over five hours working every weekend day. This gives our workplaces incredible power in our lives and our society. The energy in the organizations for which we work affects us deeply. Unfortunately, workplaces more often than not contain negative energy that drains people. Now, imagine if your employees could leave work at the end of the day energized by what they've accomplished and feeling fulfilled because they are valued. What if each person in your organization knew precisely how their actions that day embodied the mission, vision, values, and strategy your organization has created? What if your teams were prepared to make decisions, lead, and innovate as needed? What impact would that have on your organization? Would it help produce results? I can answer that last question with an unequivocal yes. I have seen it over and over in the companies I have worked with. Let me share just a couple examples from my experience. When I came on board as a consultant at the global tire retreading company, Bandag, Incorporated, the company was in the process of undergoing a cultural transformation. After consulting for two years, I decided to go full-time to help Bandag complete this transformation. Nine years later, Bandag was acquired by Bridgestone America, LLC, and they soon realized that they had purchased Bandag's retread technology and a very strong culture with extraordinary leaders. This contributed to Bridgestone's own interest in a culture transformation, so I took what I had learned at Bandag and applied it to this gigantic global company. I remained at Bridgestone for the next seven years, then went to work for Barge Design Solution, Inc., a national engineering and architecture firm, for nine years. The cultural transformations we accomplished at each of these organizations were immensely successful. At Bridgestone, after we set the purpose, vision, values, and strategies and aligned the company around this culture, creating a premier place to work, the company more than quadrupled its financial results, exceeding expectations across the globe. When I started at Barge, the company had an 18 to 20 percent turnover rate. Within a year or two of implementing the culture change initiative, the company was down to single-digit turnover, way below the industry average. We calculated that this alone saved the company at least a million dollars yearly in turnover expenses. We also continued to complete an annual survey from the Great Place to Work Institute, and year over year, more and more people were saying we were a great place to work. At the same time, our profits were rising—in fact, during the process of creating a great place to work at Barge, profits increased sevenfold during my tenure! In my experience, the financial results consistently surpass expectations. And the evidence is not just anecdotal. It has been proven that healthy organizations produce better financial results, and the business community is now recognizing this. As McKinsey reports, 'Twenty-plus years of proprietary McKinsey research tells us that one of the main reasons is organizational health. … McKinsey's Organizational Health Index (OHI) continues to show, for instance, that, over the long term, healthy organizations deliver three times the total shareholder returns (TSR) of unhealthy organizations, regardless of industry. Other findings point to greater resilience and higher financial performance in healthy organizations.' A good culture can drastically improve our lives by making our work an energizing force. A good culture aligned throughout the organization uplifts, motivates, and engages everyone who works there, across every part of the company. When this happens, everyone benefits. Culture isn't just fluffiness. It isn't everyone singing Kumbaya. It is real business, and it pays off. I am glad we are finally seeing how culture can stop being abstract and become the force transforming performance and people.
Time of India
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Truckers go on strike against e-challans in Maharashtra; transporters' body reports 'mixed response'
Truckers in Maharashtra went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday to protest against the e-challan system and press for other long-pending demands, disrupting goods transport services across the state, transporters' representative said. The transporters have complained the recovery process by authorities has become aggressive and is disrupting business operations, besides mounting fines of e-challans. The Vahatukdar Bachao Kruti Sanghatana , an action committee of transporters' associations, gave the strike call. While the truckers began the strike from midnight, bus operators have deferred their participation for the next few days. "The strike has received a mixed response as it is the first day, but the situation will be different post-afternoon," claimed Uday Barge, convener of the action committee. He said 1.5 lakh and 2 lakh trucks and other goods-carrying vehicles in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra would go off roads due to the strike. Barge claimed all trucks were off roads in Mumbai's business hub Kalbadevi, while in other areas, members of transport associations were using "Gandhigiri" to persuade transporters to join the strike. The transporters' demands include stopping forceful recovery of e-challan fines , cancellation of e-challans older than six months, waiving existing penalties, scrapping the mandatory cleaner rule for heavy vehicles, and reconsidering no-entry timings in metro cities. In view of the strike call, the state government has formed a 10-member committee comprising senior officers from the Mumbai traffic police, highway police and motor vehicles department, along with leaders of transport associations, to look into the issue. The committee will submit its report within a month, according to a Government Resolution (GR) issued late Tuesday night. Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on June 26 assured the formation of the committee to look into the transporters' demands. The transporters earlier staged an indefinite sit-in protest from June 16 at Mumbai's Azad Maidan to press for their demands. They called off the protest on June 24 after Industries Minister Uday Samant assured them a meeting would be convened to resolve their issues. During the meeting held the following day, Sarnaik and Samant promised the formation of a committee to examine the demands. However, the transporters remained firm on their decision for the strike in July, citing lack of relief regarding the withdrawal of e-challans older than six months. "As the Uttar Pradesh government has waived old fines issued through e-challans in their state, the Maharashtra government should also consider taking a similar move," Kailas Pingle, president of Maharashtra Rajya Motor Malak Sangh, which has also extended support to the strike, said on Tuesday. However, a leader of one of the bodies of bus operators on Tuesday said Chief Minister Eknath Fadnavis requested the bus operators not to go on strike to avoid troubles for the warkaris (devotees of Lord Vitthal), as Ashadi Ekadashi is just a few days away. Hence they decided to postpone their participation in the strike for a few days, he said.
New Indian Express
02-07-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Truckers go on strike against e-challans in Maharashtra; 'mixed response', says transporters' body
MUMBAI: Truckers in Maharashtra went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday to protest against the e-challan system and press for other long-pending demands, disrupting goods transport services across the state, transporters' representative said. The transporters have complained the recovery process by authorities has become aggressive and is disrupting business operations, besides mounting fines of e-challans. The Vahatukdar Bachao Kruti Sanghatana, an action committee of transporters' associations, gave the strike call. While the truckers began the strike from midnight, bus operators have deferred their participation for the next few days. "The strike has received a mixed response as it is the first day, but the situation will be different post-afternoon," claimed Uday Barge, convener of the action committee. He said 1.5 lakh and 2 lakh trucks and other goods-carrying vehicles in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra would go off roads due to the strike. Barge claimed all trucks were off roads in Mumbai's business hub Kalbadevi, while in other areas, members of transport associations were using "Gandhigiri" to persuade transporters to join the strike.
