Hi Folks,
Today I want to write a letter to the guys at Kimbo. No Matter what industry you’re in right now, we’re all working hard. These are the kinds of times that give the opportunity for strength to show itself in someones character.
Kimbo has been building truck bed campers for almost 9 years. Recently we moved into a new shop space so that we could bring the router and assembly into one space. We’ve been dispersed by a city-block for years and we’re all finally together in one spot, building the future of the company.
I had the chance to see everyone working together to orchestrate the shop move; I’ve been heads down designing the 8 foot camper for a year and looked up to catch something awesome. What I want to share Is pretty simple looking on the surface but so rewarding to be a part of. Today I want to share what I know about their dynamic that makes this company so rewarding to work hard for.
The guys at the shop really respect each other. It’s about as simple sounding as that. But over the years I’ve seen this company go through rough times and good times and that’s what keeps making its way through the other side. It feels healthy because it is, and I know that our customers see it too.
Before I start digging deeper I want to say thank you to the guys at Kimbo. You’re working hard and I am stinkin’ proud to be a part of this team, working hard for you too. Thank you for the ways that you treat each other and look for the good in each other. Thank you for supporting each other and honoring each other. Your hands are building these campers every day. But you’re leaving something tangible and lasting with the world. That’s what’s so awesome about this company; our camper outlasts and we all get the opportunity to see over 600 of them make their way into peoples lives. There are now thousands of moments that have become the highlights of peoples lives, built by your hands. That’s something to be proud of. Thank you guys, you’re doing awesome.
Today I want to share what I know and have studied about that simple word, respect. I remember asking someone what it meant a long time ago, more from a philosophical angle than anything, and the answer I got left me feeling that there was a lot more. Here is what I found.
Mutual respect is just mutual receptivity to influence. It’s where both people use the opportunity to look up to the perspective and character of the other. Its where both people see that there’s something to be learned from the other. Some people mistake the idea of respect with the idea of admiration but they’re very different. Admiration comes with less inquiry than the presence of respect. Admiration looks more like the desire to lift up than the desire to learn from. And that’s the strength of a team who collectively respects each other. With more curiosity and inquiry there’s more opportunity for problem solving and working together as a team who knows who’s abilities stop where and who’s start next.
There’s this theory called the Dunning-Kruger effect that describes where we can trick ourselves into thinking that we know more than we do. I want to tell you about how it relates to a team who respects each other.
The Dunning-Kruger is described as a graph. When we learn something new it’s like finding an iceberg. There’s a lot to take in but we often stop learning where the ice touches the water. This is called “unconscious incompetence” and they describe it as “the peak of high confidence in the early learning process where little knowledge makes you feel like an expert”. And to throw most consultants under the bus this is how many of them make it into advisory positions.
So this graph starts out at a low, peaks to a high pretty quickly with early learning (they call it mount-stupid), and then starts to dip. The bottom of that dip is called “the valley of despair”. And its where someone looks under the water to see that there’s a lot more iceberg than they saw on the surface. To truly learn in life is the trudge to explore below the water line.
Eventually, over years of learning, the dunning-Kruger slope rises again. It’s called “the slope of enlightenment” and its the difference between having knowledge on a topic versus having wisdom on one.
Here’s where I want to tie it together. You can’t get to wisdom as a team without inquiry. You can’t get inquiry without mutual respect. And you can’t get mutual respect without humility and self-confidence in character. And that’s who our team is. And I’m proud to work for our customers but I’m even more proud to work for our guys. Because you can’t get to a great product by trying to sell the tip of an iceberg. You get to a great product by building an iceberg from its base, where most people don’t care to look. Our guys have wisdom in this because of the character that they came from.
There are hundreds of decisions of care and quality that our team builds into every Kimbo Camper. On the surface its a cool metal camper. Under the water line there’s an integrity of years of decision making that built the base of a strong team and a product that’s meant to last.
To the reader: I hope you’ve been doing well. Thank you for reading this and I hope it gives you something positive today. Talk to you soon.
-M