So, I decided to start eating in the office kitchen. I usually didn’t do that because I felt kid of silly eating there alone. I only work in the office 2 days a week, so I don’t have much opportunity to talk with my coworkers and my lunch hour varies, so I don’t make plans with other people.

The first day I sat there, three people stopped to talk to me! The next week, the same thing – people would come to wash their dishes or get their lunch and we had a chance to talk. After awhile I realized that even if I did feel silly this was a chance to build relationships with my coworkers. Now I know a little bit more about their lives and when we do see each other it is easier to talk.

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Again we contacted the contractor with this information, but they were very elusive and we could tell they were trying to avoid us and avoid paying. We tried our best not to be angry with the receptionists and accountants we spoke to, but it was difficult because we were not given a straight answer.

In the middle of all this, the accountant for the contractor called us asking for our tax information. We were tempted not to respond and give them the same run-around they had given us. But remembering the values of The Company Cube, we sent it right away.

Finally we were able to reach the contractor, who agreed to sign off and allow the owner to pay us directly (which they did). The contractor even asked my colleague if we would consider working with them again. That was another hard question! After all they put us through to receive our payment, it was hard to believe they would ask that. Instead of saying no, my colleague agreed that if we could make better payment arrangements next time, we would be interested in continuing the working relationship.

In the end we felt that we had failed sometimes with this client by loosing our cool. But instead of everyone leaving the relationship in anger, we were given the chance to keep building a relationship with the contractor and their staff.

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I felt that I had succeeded when a participant came to my office afterward to continue the discussion in a way that evidenced he felt “safe” in doing so. I also had a lunch appointment that had been rescheduled twice before and that we were finally able to keep, and I tried during that lunch to converse in such a way as to really get to know the other person—their interests and concerns. I find that I now look forward to rolling the Company Cube each morning to see what my renewed focus will be for the day.

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Two of our interns, one from Brazil and one from Columbia, went together to a local coffee shop near our office at lunch time. They noticed how busy the women who owned the little shop was that day, scurrying around with a long line of customers, looking a little understaffed for the demands of the day. When they arrived at the front of the line after a long wait, they gave the women their order but said not to rush, they had plenty of time. As she caught her breath, they struck up a conversation with her about how her day was going, what had been happening in her life, and how business was going. In doing this, they understood that they were really putting into practice the vision of The Company Cube by entering into a relationship with this women.It turns out that the woman was not having a very good day – some mix-up had occurred in a delivery to her shop, an argument with a family member had occurred, and she was more stressed than normal. After really sharing her struggles with them, she added: “And to top it all off, today is my birthday!”

After getting their coffee, they left the shop and began talking about the lady’s situation. They decided that they would go across the street and buy her a little present, and bring it back to her. When they finally got up to the ‘next’ front of the line again, she looked at them and said ‘What are you doing back so soon?” At that point, they looked at each other, and pulled the present from behind their backs and together shouted ‘Happy Birthday!’ The women stood there for a moment in utter amazement. “This is for me? You did this for me?” she questioned them in disbelief. It was at that point that the woman began to cry, overcome by the generous nature of these two young people.

But, the experience doesn’t end there. A few weeks later, some of our full-time employees were in the same shop, and the same lady was working. She asked them, ‘Where do you work?’ And they said: “Mundell & Associates, down the street.” The lady looked at them and exclaimed in an animated voice: “Mundell & Associates? You have the best people in the world working there!” She then recounted for the employees the story of the two interns and their act of kindness. The employees left the coffee shop that day amazed and with free coffee, feeling happy with what impact even the small things it does can have on the local community.

For me, this little ‘story’ really is an example of the revolutionary power of The Company Cube – this ‘culture of giving’ that goes out from the companies to the local community, transforming it, revitalizing it, making it more of a true community, and then, having been changed, the community reciprocates, giving back to the company: Sharing with it, creating a mutual giving and receiving dynamic. Imagine what the world of work would be like if this attitude spread? It is like a special, some would say ‘divine’, virus that we can infect our working world with, spreading from one person to the next one on its own, because things like this often do. When there are real and authentic expressions of caring and sharing, there is no stronger medicine that can be given to our sometimes sick and anxious world, then what The Company Cube prescribes.

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