(no subject)
The other day I got a Max DePree quote via fortune. This surprised because I was not aware that Max DePree was known outside of west Michigan. He was the founder of the Herman Miller corporation, a home and office furniture manufacturer with its worldwide headquarters in Zeeland, MI, but with now more locations scattered around the globe. Or at least that was the case when I still worked there, during college. The current economic crisis may have taken its toll on them just as it has on everyone, but that leads me to my point. While I cannot remember the particular Max DePree quotes, it was along the lines of many of his quotes, which say something to the extent that understanding, compassion, and love need to also be a part of a business relationship, and how a business contract is not some immutable thing, but rather should be a common understanding between two parties that facilitates them working together to benefit them both. After hearing PM Gordon Brown's address to Parliament on Tuesday, where he said, to paraphrase, that the marketplace does not breed virtue. It is the virtues that we bring to the marketplace that enable it to work for the betterment of everyone. In these times, Max's quotes seem more relevant than ever.
And now for a story. The only reason the name Max DePree struck a bell with me when I first saw the quote, other than working for Herman Miller at one point, I mean, since I had managed to forget most of that, was a story my father told me of when he was a young boy still on the farm. Somehow, Max De Pree and my uncle Jacob were friends. Not even my dad remembers how they met, if they were classmates at some point or if attended the same church, or what. At any rate, Max would come to the farm to visit Jake from time to time, which was a fairly big event out in the country, since they didn't get visitors that often. The farm my dad grew up on, only had one small utility tractor, and they used horses for most of the heavy work yet. This was fairly common in the area. Not even everyone had cars yet, and electricity was still making the rounds in the neighborhood and had not gotten to everyone yet. So when Max DePree comes to visit my uncle, it's a big event on the farm, and my dad even to this day recalls how things came to a halt, and everyone stared at his car, because no one had ever seen a Studebaker before. Sure, there were plenty of Fords and Oldsmobiles in the neighborhood, but the name Studebaker was unheard of.
If this sounds like a rambling story an old person tells, it's because I'm repeating it from my father, but there it is.
And now for a story. The only reason the name Max DePree struck a bell with me when I first saw the quote, other than working for Herman Miller at one point, I mean, since I had managed to forget most of that, was a story my father told me of when he was a young boy still on the farm. Somehow, Max De Pree and my uncle Jacob were friends. Not even my dad remembers how they met, if they were classmates at some point or if attended the same church, or what. At any rate, Max would come to the farm to visit Jake from time to time, which was a fairly big event out in the country, since they didn't get visitors that often. The farm my dad grew up on, only had one small utility tractor, and they used horses for most of the heavy work yet. This was fairly common in the area. Not even everyone had cars yet, and electricity was still making the rounds in the neighborhood and had not gotten to everyone yet. So when Max DePree comes to visit my uncle, it's a big event on the farm, and my dad even to this day recalls how things came to a halt, and everyone stared at his car, because no one had ever seen a Studebaker before. Sure, there were plenty of Fords and Oldsmobiles in the neighborhood, but the name Studebaker was unheard of.
If this sounds like a rambling story an old person tells, it's because I'm repeating it from my father, but there it is.