skunk works

I just spent a day in Easley, South Carolina at Confluence Watersports, a canoe and kayak manufacturer.  It has been a good year or so since I’ve spent any time with a few of these folks and it’s nice to see what’s in the works, and to have some feedback received.  Received is a deliberate word.  Most people who ask for feedback want to have their ideas confirmed.

Isn’t my child gorgeous?

How do you feel about the AMC Pacer I’m restoring?

What do you think about my project to raise wolverines in my basement?

I think your baby is breathtaking.  That is certainly a unique automobile. I love the film Red Dawn.

The difference is these people listen.  Not that every idea the twenty some-odd* retailers said was Gospel Truth, but we certainly spoke with one voice on several issues that are important to all of us, irrespective of region. The management team were scribbling furiously as different vendors from around North America spoke on issues that matter to them.  Distribution issues (none of us want $199 garbage in Costco).  E-commerce drafting (look at it at our place, maybe even paddle it, then buy it online for 10% off).  The materials quagmire (single supplier for an important material used in some canoes).

And that’s about as much as I can say without violating my NDA.   Rest assured, paddlers.  There is leadership here, not management.  There is channeled and deliberate creativity, not random free-lancers designing boats for themselves and hoping they sell.

One thing I can say: the workers there are happy. During the factory tour, I didn’t stick with the group: I’ve seen this all before many times. I hung back a little and chatted with some of the factory workers.  This is not an easy job; it’s hard, repetitive work with a lot of skill needed to make good product.   I spoke with five assemblers, three molders, three tool maintenance folks and a couple of random guys wheeling stuff around on shuttles.

I said two things to them:

“Thank you for making boats for me.  Your work makes a lot of people happy, and you don’t get to see them enjoy it. They do.”

“Do they treat you okay here?”

I got a lot of surprise from the first sentence.  It’s like they’d never heard of the people who use these boats.  They assemblers were especially surprised.  They often thanked me.

To a person I had a positive response to the second question.  Everyone was happy, or at least content.  Decent pay, health insurance, 401K if they want it.  They were gracious.  They were proud.  They were happy.

I asked the tool guys if they like the management team. One of the guys had been there fifteen years, and when I asked him if the old managers ever came out to the factory floor, he said “Yeah…to yell at us.”  Brilliant.  Luckily the Shar Pei (his nickname) is long gone and is poisoning some other well.

Synopsis: it was fun, engaging, and ultimately exhausting.

Respectfully submitted,

Canoelover

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*Actually, they’re all odd.  Nature of the beast.