The June 12, 2024 meeting opened on Zoom at 12:28 pm (23 members on zoom) and in person at the University of Michigan’s Anderson Room. The patriotic song was “America the Beautiful”.
Steve Schramm provided today’s inspiration which related to today’s speaker and how joy can be brought into the workplace and how businesses need to make room for employees’ personal lives. Rich Sheridan’s company, Meno Innovations provides a purposeful service-filled venture for its employees and is similar to RCAA’s mission and programming. Joy, purpose and integrity is at the heart of everything Menlo and Rotary do.
Joanne Pierson and Stephanie Freeth led us in song to the upcoming release of “May Peace Prevail” By Stephanie Freeth, Isaac Koren, Thorald Koren. Lyrics as follows: “On a warm fall day, I took a walk by the river, To heal my heart and head, Came across a four-sided pole, On that Path beside the river, And in nine languages, it said, May peace prevail on Earth. I took a picture then posted it, Right then and there, As a statement without fanfare, About the times in which we live, Or how scared I feel, Watching old wounds rise to the surface, May peace prevail in me. That pole alone will not bring peace, It’s up to you and me, To heal the wars raging within, And only then, And with grace accompanying, Will we start to embody peace, May peace prevail in you. It’s time to ground new frequencies, The current of love, Not the currents of old frictions, Ground these new frequencies, Through your body, Transmute your grief into conviction, That peace will prevail on Earth right now. That peace will prevail, That peace will prevail in me and you, That peace will prevail as us. May peace prevail as us.”
President Foster thanked the volunteers for today’s meeting and guests were introduced. Birthdays were recognized. President Foster’s puns left us all laughing and groaning.
President Foster reminded members that dues are now due so please make your payments as soon as possible.
Club Secretary Kathy Waugh presented the Slate of Nominees 2024-25 and Doug Ziesemer was presented as a candidate for Director of Youth Development for a one-year term. There were no nominations from the floor. One month from today, Doug’s candidacy will be up for a vote. Director of Club Development candidate Leo Shedden was presented one month ago for a 2-year term. There were no nominations from the floor. The nomination was moved and seconded and Leo was approved as Director of Club Development.
Susan Smith was presented with an Emeritus Membership award from Barbara Eichmuller.
This special membership status is reserved for our members who are 80 years of age and have been a member of our club for at least 20 years. Susan was born and raised in Lansing. After high school she enrolled at the University of Michigan where she earned a BS in math. Then she headed for
Philadelphia to work for an actuarial and consulting firm. Over the next 30 years she was located in Philadelphia, Chicago, back to Philadelphia and finally Detroit. She retired from Willis Towers Watson actuarial firm in 1992. During that time, she had broken the “glass ceiling” by being the first woman stockholder and Vice President. For some people, retirement would have been the end of the story. But for Susan it was just the beginning of her philanthropic adventures. She used her talents to serve as Treasurer and then President of her college sorority. She joined Rotary in 2002 as a member of the Social Committee and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.
Frode Maaseidvaag was the second recipient of Emeritus Membership at today’s meeting and was introduced by Steve Kesler. Frode was a RCAA key member in that he was responsible for developing RCAA’s AV system from the ground up and assisting in all things technical for the club. Frode received his PhD from U-M and taught at U-M for several years after which he spent the remainder of his career at Ford Motor Company. Frode assembled the research facility in Europe and brought together 100 people from 16 nationalities, designed the building and hired all the staff. He is retired from Ford and spends time on his wooden Norwegian boat. He has a distinguished record of contributions to the club but the most important for Steve was Frode’s invitation to join RCAA.
Henry Johnson presented the next award to Bob Holmes. Henry knows Bob from their many years in education administration. Bob was responsible for setting up the financial aid department at Chicago State University but according to Henry, Bob’s real recognition is in service and his work in Detroit & Chicago. Bob’s work with underserved communities is stellar and Bob & his wife have committed their lives to service.
Norman Herbert introduced today’s speaker, Rich Sheridan, entrepreneur, business leader and author. Sheridan is the author of “Joy Inc” and is the co-founder and CEO of Menlo Innovations, a software & IT consulting firm which has received numerous awards and recognition for its office culture. Menlo was inducted into the Shingo Academy which is the hall of fame for organizational excellence.
Sheridan’s presentation was entitled “Another A2 Success – how Menlo Innovations is changing companies for the better”. Menlo is celebrating its 23rd anniversary today. Sheridan shared a video and also shared his strategy for how to bring joy into the workplace.
Menlo is a custom software design and development team and its mission is to “end human suffering in the world as it relates to technology.” They do this by bringing JOY to those they serve through their work and our culture. 25,000 visitors have come to Menlo’s facilities to see first-hand how Menlo is achieving this result. Menlo was named an ambassador to the Ann Arbor Convention and Visitor’s Bureau due to the number of hotel rooms rented to visitors who were in the area to view Menlo’s business operations. There are now even more visitors due to virtual tours.
Key aspects of Menlo’s culture include the following:
Menlo High-Tech Anthropology: – What problem are you trying to solve? Observations & Interviews: Studying users in their native environment to get first-hand accounts of users’ experiences and problems.
Who are you solving it for? Personas & Personal Mapping: Creating personas based on end user characteristics and having the business prioritize in order to focus and scope the design effort.
What is the best solution to the problem? Rapid Prototyping & Design Assessments:
People are paired up together to work on coding in pairs all day long on one computer – collaboratively co-creating. The pairs switch out every 5 days. Most employees are fully in person.
Project Management: Menlo’s visual management practices brings JOY to the clients they serve by giving them transparent control over their projects and delivering predictable outcomes. Menlo’s unusual project management system uses paper (color coded) which creates a collaborative environment with the customer and the Menlo team. The customers are part of the presentation process.
Menlo’s human resources department is also visible to all staff. Pay is transparent. During the interview process, job candidates are paired with other job candidates and their task is to work to get a second interview for the person sitting next to you. No questions are asked throughout the interview process by Menlo and then Menlo staff vote on the candidates.
Key aspects of Menlo’s culture include making mistakes faster and “running the experiment”. An example of how this is exemplified is in fighting fear and embracing change – one employee who had recently had a baby had issues with securing childcare. Sheridan told the employee to bring the baby to work. Now, the company has parents who bring their babies to work to alleviate this parental challenge.
What do we do for our clients? 1) Design & Develop Custom Software, 2) Process Consulting, 3) Share and Teach Our Unique, Proven Process
How are pairs determined for which project? Teach through ears & fingertips. At Menlo, the more senior employee is “off of the keyboard” and the person with less experience is doing hands-on work. However, sometimes this goes in reverse since there is so much new technology coming out of universities.
How are performance appraisals handled? There is no formal hierarchical levels but there are leaders at Menlo and everyone can become a leader. Increase in pay is handled by sticky notes moving up the work plan to the top.
A 40 hour work week is instituted at Menlo which is unusual in the software development industry. Technology is not allowed to be used on vacations.
Sheridan encouraged Rotarians to visit Menlo for themselves as Menlo offers free public tours.
President Foster concluded the meeting with the Quote for the Day: “The Four Way Test”
Of the things we think, say or do: 1) is it the TRUTH? 2) Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3) Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS, 4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
President Foster adjourned the meeting at 1:33.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jennifer Fike
