Chapter 6 Growing Fun Kites
Several months later, Fun Kites grew bigger and expanded to another park. The two parks were overwhelmed with Fun Kites members. Soon, some of the local public were not happy and had several complaints about the Fun Kites community:
“These people are selfish. They are taking up all the space in the park.”
“They are so inconsiderate. They are disturbing the peace and tripping over young children and old people.”
Parents of some Fun Kites' members had also expressed certain concerns.
“My son sprained his ankle because he was trying to move around this crowded park.”
“The other day an old lady yelled at my daughter for ruining the park.”
To make matters worse, a new toy, E-Kite, was launched in the market. It was an electronic kite that had no string attached and was controlled by a remote. It did not require a large and open space to fly, and could even fly as high as a regular kite.
Wendy: “E-Kite is stealing our customers. Parents are pulling their children out of Fun Kites. We have to think of ways to retain them.”
Kathy: “Indeed, everyone is saying that E-Kite is the best thing in town. We need to offer something better.”
Freddy: “I know parents are considering E-Kite as a safer and better option than Fun Kites. We definitely need to do something.”
Father: “People are always complaining. There would always be someone against your ideas. In the midst of all the chaos, you need to stay calm. Do not jump into conclusions. Do not be sidetracked. Divide and focus. There are actually three issues – E-Kite, the complaints by the public, and the complaints by the Fun Kites community.”
“You cannot compare E-Kite to Fun Kites because E-Kite is not a kite at all. E-Kite is not really causing your problem. It is just taking advantage of the situation.”
“Public opinions matter. But do realize that they do not know the whole story. They do not know Fun Kites as well as you do. You should instead focus on the complaints raised by the Fun Kites community. They are not telling you why they are choosing E-Kite. They are telling you why they are not choosing Fun Kites. You have to protect your employees, your Fun Kites members, basically your people and your business.”
“Understand that not every complaint requires an action. Ten complaints do not equate to ten solutions. Find the common factor. Enforce one or two solutions and everything else will fall into place.”
Freddy analyzed the common factor of the complaints and felt that most of the issues could be resolved if he could find a different venue for the Fun Kites community. The venue had to be large, open, and free of obstacles.
Freddy: “Where do think we could get such a space?”
Wendy: “Perhaps we could rent the sports stadium. However, it might be too expensive.”
Kathy: “How about our school field? That is free. I am sure we could work out a schedule with the school to use it on the weekends.”
Freddy : “This is a great idea. Let's talk to Mr Art.”
Freddy, Wendy, and Kathy met up with Mr Art and brought up the request.
Mr Art: “Children studying at this school can certainly use the school field to fly their kites after school hours. But your community consist of children from other schools as well as adults and parents. I doubt this would be possible.”
“Let me tell you a story. Previously, I was teaching a class of 20 students. Soon, it grew to 25 students and it was hard to manage.”
“Then, the class was reduced to 22 and 22 was prefect. I could manage and the students were learning at their best potential. After the school year, the current students left and new ones arrived. People come and people go.”
“Even if you are allowed to use the school field, what happens if you have more members? You ought to choose to change something that is not fixed. Changing means having the power to control and shape. Instead of changing the venue, you should change the community.”
“Divide the community into smaller groups and allocate them to different parks. Being small would allow flexibility. People could adapt to unforeseen changes quicker. You have to the find the magic number that creates the optimal environment where group members can bond, learn, and grow to their fullest.”
“Right now, do not change anything yet. Sometimes, we should place less value on something that is tugging at us with false urgency. Wait and see. Reflect and look far ahead. Take this time to observe the Fun Kites members. Then, find the magic number.”
"This issue is telling you something more. Understand that the environment, the venue, the park does not create problems. It is people that create problems. There is a difference between dealing with a problem and resolving a problem. Dealing with a problem is just looking at the surface. Resolving a problem is digging in deeper and fully capturing the true purpose of this problem.”
“Once you discover the true purpose, you must act on it. Give your time, your energy and, your devotion. If you work on it half-hardheartedly, you will not receive genuine returns and will end up being dissatisfied.”
Freddy, Wendy, and Kathy reflected on what Mr Art 's advice and had a discussion.
Freddy: “I agree that we should wait and see. Finding the magic number and understanding the issue will take time. We should not implement any drastic changes. For now, we can remind the members on common courtesies (no loud noises, no littering, no intrusion of other people's spaces, etc).”
Kathy: “We should also remind leaders to supervise their team members and to report any incidents to us immediately. After all, kindness is essential to the foundation of Fun Kites.”
Weeks went by, and the situation was under control.
Wendy: “Mr Art was right about people coming and people going. During this period, people who did not have faith in Fun Kites or who were not committed to our mission and culture left. Now, we are left with people who truly appreciate Fun Kites and are willingly to help Fun Kites to grow. This will be a good time to experiment and see what the magic number is.”
Freddy: “Yes, this is a good time to test the waters. Also, I have been thinking about this issue. I realize that Fun Kites members must learn to coexist with the public. We have to care about the people and the parks.”
Kathy: “That is so true. All this time we cared so much about the Fun Kites members, we have neglected to see that we are actually part of the society. Our actions are unknowingly affecting the society.”
Freddy: “I feel that there is something missing. We have created a mission and shaped the culture of Fun Kites. We have the F Formula to shape our thinking, learning, and teaching processes. I think we need a set of values to shape us as individuals and to align our personal goals with Fun Kites' goals and mission.”
Wendy: “You are right. It is about being good and doing good. Adopting good values helps you to grow internally as a good person. When you do good, it affects other people positively. This strengthens the bonds and commitments towards achieving something far more greater than yourself. Most members of the Fun Kites community have been seeing themselves as a separate entity - one that differs from the society. If we focus on developing individuals' values, we are tying them to the community and the society. They will then appreciate and care for the society. Let's work with the Fun Kites members to develop these values.”
And so, they spent the next few months working with the rest of the Fun Kites members to find the magic number and to develop Fun Kites values. Through honest hard work and team work, they finally discovered the magic number and the Fun Kites values.
Fun Kites Values
These values could be applied to oneself (mind, emotions, spirit, body), family, friends, nature, the society, the world, and the universe (Note: The universe refers to everything - the known and unknown. It consists of infinite possibilities.).
Righteous
Be respectful and honest. Be trustworthy and understanding. Pursue justice and have grace. Strive for meaningful impact (instead of benefiting yourself, think of how to genuinely benefit everyone including yourself).
Caring
Be kind, patient, and humble. Value relationships (the good that people do together will exceed the good one does individually). Appreciate life, people, things, events as they are. Treasure present moments. Know when to be contented and when to go forward.
Open-minded
Be courageous and curious. Open up and be vulnerable to embrace all that it is. Be calm and acknowledge all known and unknown (use all senses to observe and be aware). There is no right or wrong perceptions.
Driven
Have strong conviction to push beyond boundaries. Have perseverance and confidence to continuously pursue excellence and purposeful growth. Understand and define clear and realistic needs, commitments, and responsibilities. Achieve goals through genuine passion and honest hard work. Be accountable (be responsible and answerable for your actions).
Balanced
Know when to move, when to stop, and when to change. Understand limitations (weaknesses, time, resources, unknown factors), the cycle of nature (what goes up must come down), and your life (where you truly belong and your purpose). Seek synchronization (not peak performance but a performance that balances with other performances to achieve ultimate potential).
All Fun Kites would develop these values through the following ways:
Learning kite building, decorating, flying, and teaching skills
Using the F Formula
Working on projects as a team
Apart from sharing the Fun Kites mission and culture, all leaders were required to enforce Fun Kites values. Freddy also launched a “My Values” campaign. After every Fun Kites gathering, the children would write down a value that they had learned or used or taught on a kite-shape sticker. They would stick the stickers on their chests and proudly share their experiences with their parents and other Fun Kites members. This not only reinforced Fun Kites values among the members but also translated the values to their parents.
Fun Kites members were also encouraged to adopt these values at school and share them with their friends and classmates. These values allowed genuine connections to flourish within the community as well as with the society. Thus, creating happier and more fulfilling personal lives.
Many parents began to see the positive progression in their children. They were glad that their children were part of the Fun Kites community. However, most parents would pull their children out of the community after six to eight months. Freddy understood that community, the society, and the people were constantly changing. After all, moving on would enable the children to use what they had learned to establish something meaningful for themselves in the future.
Freddy knew he had to adapt and hence continuously promoted Fun Kites so as to ensure a steady flow of new members. It was not really about maintaining profits as profits came naturally. It was about maintaining the cycle of human connections, the flow of ideas, and the continuous path of teaching, learning, and growing the right values and skills. That was what really mattered.