d.light Africa team had our first team retreat to Naivasha on Nov 24-25. It is meant to be an opportunity for team building and also our HR manager from China flew here to discuss our climate survey result. (it's actually kind of impressive that we actually have a climate survey given the size of our company). I'm really glad that they are doing this not only for selfish reasons of taking a trip to Naivasha, but also a lot of the organizational discussion was very important to have given that we're growing exponentially, the topic of culture, values, and processes must be raised so everyone is on the same page.
The level of openness everyone has was amazing, and there was a pretty intense discussion around what being a social enterprise means, why are we for-profit, and how would we balance the double bottom line of profit and social impact? The point of confusion really is that our product inherently has social impact, but it's not so different from the multinationals here such as Unilever who makes dettol and launches handwashing campaigns, which one could argue also creates positive social changes. So, what make us different? Everyone seems to have similar values of we're for profit for good, but have very different views on this particular question and how we would go about our everyday business differently based on these values. It was interesting to have these intellectual debates so we can reach one consistent sets of value, culture for the company, to create more cohesion between the founding teams and the newcomers.
It's also quite interesting how relevant the experience I had at General Mills on culture and organization management has come in handy in these discussions. I feel that professionally I've gotten to a point that my focus has shifted from doing the tasks to managing people. Even though I've always said that I prefer getting things done vs. dealing with people, it is quite satisfying to truly
feel what leadership means (vs. talking about it), and trying to be better at it to make a bigger impact.
 |
| View of the Rift Valley on the way to Naivasha |
safari salama! d.light boat ride
Tons of beautiful birds
Walking safari, there is no predator in Naivasha, so the animals are not scared of people, Africa is probably one of a few places that people are allowed to just walk out in the open alongside various wildebeest, waterbuck...etc. without signing a safety waiver first, haha!
We stayed at this super nice lodge called Enashipai, it means "happiness" in Maasai. The rooms are beautifully decorated with Maasai chic, the bed was super comfortable, and I loved their open air shower. They also have traditional Swahili style houses for rent, if I live here, I think I will be very enashipai too! :)
I love the fact that living in Kenya allows one to so easily access wilderness...just 2-3 hours drive away, you get this amazing nature where you are woken up by different birds singing, can hear the hippos in the lakes, and gaze at the shining stars at night. I really hope that as the continent develop at this rapid pace, all of these can be preserved!
