I start with an apology. The YouTube video I refer to in this blog has a swear word at the end. I wish it weren’t there, but it is. Anyhow; if you can cope with one expletive, it is worth a watch.
In July 2015, Fabio Zaffagnini decided to organise an event in Cesena, Italy. Simple in concept and fantastically well executed, he and his friends organised 1000 (one thousand) rock musicians (singers, guitarists, bassists and drummers) to come together in a park on a fabulously sunny day to all play one song: ‘Learn to Fly’ by the American rock band the Foo Fighters.
By now I am hoping you are searching for 1,000 Foo Fighters on Google. Fabio is the man who says the naughty word at the end of the song when he articulates the objective of the project, which went viral on social media – to ask the Foo Fighters to come and hold a concert in Cesena. This was something Dave Grohl and his Seattle-based band duly obliged in November of the same year.
Tuned to a common goal
As a drummer and a live band fan you can forgive me for perhaps being a little over-excited, but I think the video is just amazing. The professional photography, sound and editing captures the energy, enthusiasm and musicianship absolutely perfectly. (I particularly like the shots looking down a line of about 20 drummers, all simultaneously playing.)
It got me thinking. If you look carefully at the video you see that everyone is different; tall, short, female, male, old, young, long hair, short hair, no hair (like me), back to front baseball caps, glasses, beards, different coloured tops… Yet everyone is doing the same amazing job. Individuals celebrating their diversity, but all absolutely tuned in to a common team goal and having the training, equipment, technical ability and rehearsal to get it right!
Balance
I reflected that this is, in fact, Buck’s vision. Individuals celebrating their own personalities, experiences and diversity, whilst at the same time delivering consistent, high-quality services to our clients and their employees and members. I know from many conversations and from lots of detailed feedback that people want to see both, and we should be careful to always find that balance: to allow individual expression and creativity whilst always maintaining the consistency and quality. As the musicians show – it is possible to do both.
As we accelerate our growth of the new Buck, passing 600 UK and European colleagues, I look forward to the day we can Google 1,000 Buck UK colleagues, by which time our global organisation should pass 3,000! In doing so, we are going to make sure we have the right balance of training, operations, technical support and quality assurance so that the high-quality services we provide are not diluted. At the same time we will have an even more diverse colleague base, from which to learn and grow from different perspectives!
1,000 people – now that’s a target!