A635.6.3.RB - EcoSeagate

For this week’s reflection blog, I viewed the video of EcoSeagate and after reviewing the application located in page 274 of the textbook was asked to answer the following questions:
Do you see value in the EcoSeagate team development process?
Why would something like this be necessary in a high-performing organization?

Could your organization benefit from a similar activity?

I do see value in the EcoSeagate team development process. It seems that they had a very volatile and unstable work environment. When the new CEO came in, he could either do nothing and things would continue to deteriorate or he could change the culture. He chose to implement EcoSeagate and change the culture.  I believe that team building, trust building, and overall department building activities are very important activities and necessary for high performance organizations. If individuals can learn to trust one another enough to pull each other up the sides of mountains or through river rapids then discussing the plans for next year's finances or developing the next product should be no problem.

I believe that any organization could benefit from something like this. Part of Air Force Basic training involves trust exercises and other activities involving communication, commitment and accountability. The Air Force also does a good job of holding training and resilience days, now incorporating different activities that encourage trust exercises, though nothing to the Eco Seagate level. Performing theses exercise helps build, teamwork, trust and can increase morale as well. In the military, especially in front-line career fields, trust is critical to survival and success. 

Even when I’m in a smaller team it always feels good to get away and have a team lunch off-site. You get to talk to your peers about something other than work which helps you know them on a deeper level. We go back to work, after just an hour, feeling closer and having made a couple new memories. A development process like EcoSeagate would be even more important because it encompasses several levels of employees away from their place of work, thrown into challenging situations where they have to learn to trust and rely on each other to complete tasks.

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experimental Approach to Organizational Development (8 ed.). Upper Saddle River, Pearson Education, Inc.

Chao, M. (2008). Eco Seagate 2008 1/3. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCOfOFMiLtE

Chao, M. (2008). Eco Seagate 2008 2/3. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etwuap-_Azk