Author: Miles Kuperus

Today I led a devotional tailored around the idea of finishing strong. Our trip is slowly coming to a close, and often times I find that on the final few days of trips, my brain tends to start focusing on the responsibilities I have waiting for me at home. I encouraged the group to finish the trip strong and stay focused on learning and enjoying the culture while we still can. For most of us, this will be our last time in Europe for a while, so we need to take advantage of every opportunity we have to enjoy it.

Finishing strong is a common theme in the Bible and something we must do to “run the race with endurance”. We must learn to pace ourselves when problems arise or when our brains wander. John 16:33 says, “In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” This is a gentle reminder that we follow the One who is able to do above all that we could do or ask.

We also have a great example in Paul who finishes his life as strong as one could. He writes to Timothy encouraging him, “Keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, and do the work of ministry.” Paul writes this to Timothy while he is in prison! Instead of laying down in his cell to die and giving up, Paul finishes strong and provides a strong example that still echoes in the lives of Christians. Paul demonstrates what it means to thrive in the middle of a problem.

It is important to question..where are you? How do you plan to live your next days, weeks, months to ensure you finish strong? When tempted to give up, remember Paul’s strength in the face of adversity.

I hope you all run the race with endurance and keep the faith. Finish strong in whatever you do!

Today we went to Steelcase in Munich to see how they operate. I must say, it was vastly different than the work life I have seen in the US. They called their office the learning and innovation center. The office is totally tailored for innovative learning so that employees never feel stuck. Through research, Steelcase found that it isn’t possible to focus for 8 hours straight, and employees need to sit down and focus for an hour before relocating and doing something else.

Thus, they created an office space that is unique, where each office and area is different and each employee can relocate wherever they want to work. They use this space for their tours where over 100 people come each day to see how they operate. The typical customers think conservatively of the way they work. They wouldn’t ever consider these innovative rooms before they visit Steelcase and see how they work. Steelcase got rid of show rooms, and basically tour their customers around their workers and show how they work.

Their selling point is finding out what 3 phases of work are most important to the customer(for example Innovation, people engagement, collaboration—all business challenges). They find 3 topics that have prioritization to the customer and Make customers talk about work trends and how these phases of working are typically operating at their office. They almost act as consultants and have the customers talk amongst each other about ways they can improve on these phases of operation.

From research, Steelcase found that Highly engaged people are only 1/3 people of total workforce. Engagement is important. They believe if they provide a good work environment then employees will be actively engaged. They hope that through the freedom of workspace that they offer employees, they will be more highly engaged. Here are a few examples of the freedom and changes they offered:

They added big windows to the office so that daylight shines in at all times, allowing the employees to know what time of day it is.

They also made the leaders operate on the middle floor so there was no feeling of hierarchy. The leaders don’t even have set offices. In most companies, the leaders will be on the top floor, but at Steelcase, they operate on the middle floor and are available to everyone. Their leaders dont even have an established office. The CEO said, “everyone knows me, I don’t need an office for that”.

Overall, Steelcases “Learning and Innovation Center” is used as a selling point for their customers. Instead of show casing their products, Steelcase just shows how they work and hopes it rubs off on customers. It sure rubbed off on me. Allowing employee freedom and displaying level hierarchy made Steelcase seem like a company anyone would want to work for. This would rub off on perspective clients or employees. It was an awesome visit.

As expected, the culture of Europe thus far has been drastically different from that of the United States. There are some aspects of the culture that you come here to experience, while there are others that make minor things a burden. Here are just a few I have experienced in the first week here.

Pros:

History: There is so much to see in each city we have been too. We have been to more museums this week then I have gone to over the last 10 years or so, and each place has its own unique story. In just today alone, I saw the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa. There aren’t many places in the US where you could see 2 significant historical pieces in one day

Food: While I admit that I have eaten McDonald’s and KFC once on this trip, the food otherwise has been far better than what I eat in the US. The meals you eat here are all from little food shops, not chain restaurants with processed foods. The entire ombiance of the restaurants just make the food taste that much better. My favorite spot thus far has been a small fish and chips shop in Middleburg, Netherlands.

Cons:

Everything is small: From the restaurants to the restrooms to the streets to the sidewalks, everything is smaller here. We can’t fit more than 5 people into the typical spot we eat for lunch. It is hard to take a big group unless you are willing to spend a lot of Euros.

Language barrier: While the people in the Netherlands spoke good English, the experience has not been the same in France. It is fun to try and communicate with some locals. For example, a group of us had a long conversation with a guy on the metro who only spoke French and it was fun to guess what he was trying to say. However, doing things like ordering food has been harder. Today at McDonald’s my burger took 15 minutes and it was tough to voice my frustration with the workers

Overall, the Pros obviously outweigh the cons and I am enjoying the cultural experience/challenge and am excited to see what is yet to come!