String theory

It began with string. Sturdy, unassuming white string, the kind of string that ties up brown paper packages and conducts important conversations between tin cans. As I puzzled over the latest Brand DNA at my desk on Monday, I began to notice the string quietly strung from the ceiling tiles. Carefully and unobtrusively, it skirted the perimeter of the office, encircling my officemates and me. Not wanting to break my concentration, I let the observation go for the time being. 

That evening, as I left the office and walked into the elevator bank, I saw that the string wasn’t unique to the office I work in – it hung next to the elevators and extended into Keen’s two offices on the other side of the floor. Huh. Was there some kind of game going on between the offices that I didn’t know about? Was Keen going retro with an actual revival of the tin-cup-phone-and-string communications strategy? Given that we had recently had an elaborate company-wide Ping-Pong tournament (complete with a live-feed and digital stats on screen – thanks, Khun Neo!), I knew that there were any number of creatively zany possibilities.

The question of the string was answered yesterday morning, however. As the climax of a months-long process to redefine Keen, the whole company gathered in the lounge space normally occupied by that (in)famous Ping-Pong table. Replacing the table was a row of Buddhist monks, invited by Keen to bless our new logo and new vision for the company. Upon filing in to kneel before them, I saw the end of the string’s trail – twined around a statue of the Buddha and draped over the hands of the monks. Suddenly, it struck me. The string was a conductor but not in the way I had imagined. Rather than words, the string was conveying the monks’ blessings all around the office, connecting each and every person with the blessings and what was being blessed. As the chanting – at once ancient and ethereal – filled the room, I closed my eyes to listen more closely. Though I didn’t understand the Pali verses, I could begin to understand the way they bound us together. 

Like the foreign words of the Buddhist chant, the people of Keen come from diverse backgrounds and sometimes don’t even speak the same language. Yet, just as the experience of the chanting was shared by all, so too does the experience of working at Keen bring all the different personalities and backgrounds into a common whole. Indeed, our very differences give our team the edge it needs to find fresh perspectives and craft original designs.

After the monks had spritzed our heads and walls with water and left the office, we all stayed together for a company-wide lunch of Thai favorites. For a little bit, we (well, most of us, anyways) put aside our thoughts of the next deadline and the next project to eat, laugh, and generally enjoy each other’s company. The sounds of Thai, British English, American English, and French English, as well as near-constant laughter, floated around the room. If the string wasn’t still vibrating from the blessings, surely it was now humming with this unique chorus of Keen voices. Of course, I don’t need the string to remember how each one of us is tied together. I see that bond manifest itself every day as we work together to bring our creative visions to fruition.

I wouldn’t mind if we left the string up for awhile, though. I haven’t spoken over a tin-can two-way in a long time.