Rich Sheridan’s book “Joy, Inc. How We Built a Workplace People Love”
This Friday, I have the privilege to be hosting Rich Sheridan for our monthly CEO/Leaders Connect event at Zingerman’s Roadhouse. I have had the pleasure of knowing Rich since he began his company, Menlo Innovations, over 10 years ago. It has grown from a small storefront on 4th Avenue to a whole floor at Tally Hall on Liberty. He has been honored as Entrepreneur of the Year, and the company has helped launch multiple businesses in the community.
In anticipation of his Leaders Connect event on Friday, I asked Rich to write a message for Dr. Rob this week. Here it is:
This Friday, I am honored to join Rob Pasick and our community leaders at Zingerman’s Roadhouse to discuss ideas from my new book Joy, Inc. – How We Built a Workplace People Love.
Here is an excerpt from the introduction:
“You see, I know why you are reading this book. It’s because you are hoping somewhat beyond hope, to bring joy into your own workplace.”
“Deep down you know there is a better way to run a business, a team, a company, a department. You’ve always known it. These thoughts come to you just before falling asleep or just after waking. Then your day begins, and the idea of transformational change evaporates like a maddening dream you can’t seem to reassemble after waking from it.”
I was there too. There were times in my later career I took the longest country drives I could, around the west side of Ann Arbor on my way to my old job at Interface Systems, Inc. near Jackson and Zeeb roads. I know all the dirt roads, the country churches, the farms, and which roads flood in the spring. The last place I wanted to be was “at work.” I hated everything about my job.
Looking back now, I don’t know who that guy was. Anyone who knows me now, knows I love what I do. My days are filled with the joy of knowing my team and I are working on something much bigger than ourselves. We selfishly built a workplace we want to work in.
The beauty of it all is that this is not a zero-sum game. Far from it. We didn’t have to give up results, or profits, or customer service, or personal growth to achieve joy. In fact, just the opposite.
I won’t even think to suggest that the way I run my company is the way you should run yours. But I do know this … if you get some fundamental pieces in place, you too can have joy. Some of those pieces involve removing fear and eliminating the chaos of never getting anything done, while avoiding the bureaucracy of never getting anything started.
My days are now filled with travel, sharing this message all over the country. I can’t think of a better town to share this message than my hometown, and I can’t think of a better place to share this message than Zingerman’s.
And I can’t think of a better group of people to share it with than those friends and colleagues from the Ann Arbor business community whom I’ve gotten to know so well over the years of building Menlo.
See you soon!