05 April 2016
Don't Get Comfortable
Co-founder and CEO Ken Tomita explores our adventures in running a small business and the journey to understand the meaning of it all.
I was giving a tour of our workshop to a guest the other day, showing him how we’re constantly changing, always tearing things down and making them better. Our physical space and our company infrastructure never stay put for long. He chuckled. “So no one gets comfortable around here, huh?”
“Don’t get comfortable.” It’s a good internal slogan for Grovemade.*
For the past six years, every single day feels like we’re on the heels of something big, on “the threshold of greatness” as (Grovemade COO) Jim would say. We hustle and toil, and it seems that we’re just about to turn a corner and finally be able to “cruise.”
But that never happens, and we never want it to.
Our goal isn’t to make things easy, it’s to make things better, which, by definition, is a never ending mission.
“Don’t get comfortable.” It’s a good internal slogan for Grovemade.*
For the past six years, every single day feels like we’re on the heels of something big, on “the threshold of greatness” as (Grovemade COO) Jim would say. We hustle and toil, and it seems that we’re just about to turn a corner and finally be able to “cruise.”
But that never happens, and we never want it to.
Our goal isn’t to make things easy, it’s to make things better, which, by definition, is a never ending mission.
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Sure, there are inefficiencies involved with constantly changing and improving. You never hit that peak where you have it all figured out, and can simply enjoy the benefits. Why do we keep going if we know we’ll never reach a clear victory? Why do we voluntarily roll this rock up the hill, simply to watch it roll back down?
We’ve found, in our personal lives as well as our working lives, that there’s really no such thing as a “destination”, at least not one that will leave you fulfilled. We’re truly at peak happiness when we’re maintaining a sense of forward movement, regardless of the goal, and we as a company have made the decision to bake this into our very foundation.
* (“Don’t get comfortable” is American Giant’s old slogan, a great, tongue-in-cheek campaign coming from an apparel company.)
We’ve found, in our personal lives as well as our working lives, that there’s really no such thing as a “destination”, at least not one that will leave you fulfilled. We’re truly at peak happiness when we’re maintaining a sense of forward movement, regardless of the goal, and we as a company have made the decision to bake this into our very foundation.
* (“Don’t get comfortable” is American Giant’s old slogan, a great, tongue-in-cheek campaign coming from an apparel company.)