Changing the World – By Connecting It

The Leadership Learning Experience (LLE) Gives Employees a New Opportunity to Serve

Leadership Learning Experience (LLE) is about Best Buy employees helping people and the world become more sustainable in this digitally connected world. Best Buy employees have much to learn from and much to teach. The LLE connects high performance, high-potential employees with non-profit organizations which do meaningful work in their communities and everyone wins.

Best Buy sends high-qualified employees, generally a four week assignment, out to help with everything from technology to business plans, and the non-profits return a highly engaged and passionate employee with applicable new skills to bring back to Best Buy. Many Companies who are recognized as "Best Places to Work" offer similar programs as a way to attract, retain, motivate and provide balance to their employees.

LLEs that reallocate talent and passion out to the community and causes that align with the companies mission, builds the company's reputation. LLE is an innovative way to build skills in our partner organizations as well as our own, providing a development opportunity for leaders in tough economic times. This program is an opportunity to continue to recognize and support the unique needs of employees lives outside of work and with a vast amount of organizational change there is a real need to express company support and appreciation for our employee population.

Best Buy has piloted two LLEs with the help of WOLF:

• In September 2008 the Grameen Foundation was in need of Human Capital expertise. Jess Watje was selected to go to their corporate headquarters in Washington, DC on a three month assignment to help build their Human Capital Assessment Tool. She then traveled to Africa for three weeks to help execute the tool following its development.
• Most recently an LLE deployed in Haiti for disaster Relief through Worldwide organization, World Vision International. World Vision had a dire need for Supply Chain expertise on the ground in Haiti for disaster recovery. Ralph Titus, Director on the International Supply chain team, was selected to go to Haiti and build Supply Chain capabilities. Ralph departed for Haiti on June 27, 2010 and will return to the U.S. on July 20th. We invite you to follow his story below.

Haiti Disaster Relief 2010: Ralph Titus, International Supply Chain Director on LLE through July 20th, tells the story through his eyes

Follow Ralph's journey with ongoing updates during his time in Haiti through his journal and photos posted below.

July 1, 2010

I came in on Monday morning from Miami after a couple of hours sleep there. My connection through Chicago was delayed by storms. I think somebody was just trying to prepare me for the weather here in Haiti! We flew down the coast of Cuba and Puerto Rico to the Island ofHispaniola (comprised of the Dominican Republic to the East and Haiti to the West). The blue Caribbean was flecked with white and as we came over on our final approach to Haiti, the pattern changed from blue ocean and white capped waves to brown and blue as we passed over the island. The blue patchwork checks were tarps that covered the roofs of damaged homes to keep out the daily rains.

As an international traveler I am used to spending time in airports. However, in Haiti I was in and out in a matter of minutes. The reason however was that the airport itself was damaged during the quake. Passengers now walk off the plane onto the jet way and down a set of stairs and out into the blazing sun. We went through customs and picked up our bags from a converted air parcel warehouse. People everywhere were offering help with our baggage hoping for a tip. As we made our way to the WVI office we passed through much devastation. Many multi-storied buildings pancaked down on top of the floors below and are still standing. It seems as though every other house is now either rubble or structurally unsafe.

The rains have added an additional wrinkle to the existing damage evidenced by our driver maneuvering underneath a power pole leaning low over the street, the dirt that once held it up washed away by the rain.

More to come...

July 2, 2010

We make our way to work via 4 wheel drive, early every morning. The city of Port Au Prince hugs the rugged mountain range close by the sea and spills part of the city onto a narrow coastal plain. The roads are tightly contained with high cinderblock walls (many of them crumbling down) that are covered with vines and colorful flowers, and steep drop off’s down to the rooftops (actually most of the roofs are gone) of homes on the other side. Every inch of the steep slopes are crammed with corn, vegetables, debris, rubble, or garbage. The roads are dirt and steep, ravines run haphazardly through them as a result of the constant rains. Our driver maneuvers expertly around crushed vehicles, rocks, ravines, goats, and a stream of humanity as everyone goes about their daily routine. There can be interesting moments when we start down an incline only to meet traffic coming the other way. We hold our breath and wait for the wheels to bite and reverse up the hill. Most of the time they do.

Amidst this destruction we also see glimmers of hope. Haiti is a country whose people are working together to build a return of some semblance of normalcy as they distance themselves from the disastrous earthquake. This is evidenced by the string of school children picking their way up steep hillsides in their brightly colored uniforms, many with a father or mother holding their hand as they make their way to the neighborhood schools. Everywhere everyone is involved in rebuilding or trying to find work. Yesterday I saw a man rolling large boulders out of a tight corner in the road so that cars might pass safely.

Also, yesterday was another day of “firsts” for me. I had sugarcane and found it to be quite excellent. Though the taste was perfectly sweet and natural, every bite leaves one with a mouth of what can only be described as chewed toothpicks. Oh well, every rose has its thorn. Also, two traveler’s tips: 1) Always shake out your shoes before you put them on in the morning and 2) never take a shower with a large spider that moves faster than you do!

Talk to you all soon...

July 3, 2010

What at first appeared to be graffiti on the walls and homes adjacent to the street turns out to be warnings to those that may enter. The color of the paint signifies the structural stability of the dwelling. Red is “Do Not Enter” and it seems to be the prevalent hue.

Haitian attire is also colorful. It amazes me the level of attention they pay to their dress. Adults on their way to and from work, children going to school, all have perfectly pressed clean and bright clothes. Their demeanor is a contradiction to their dusty and rocky surroundings.

The mosquitoes here are much smaller than their Northern cousins but much more dangerous (though just as ravenous). They can carry malaria and dengue fever. No place is safe from them and offices use fans to keep them moving.

I just made a trip to the market down the street from the office in my quest for lunch. It was unusually quiet on the streets as everyone was listening to the World Cup game. Walking through the doors of the market instantly transported me back to the US. It looked like a typical small town grocery store save all the signage with the exception of the “Ten Items or Less” Express Line was in French. Oh, and impulse items at the cash register included a j peg hook of padlocks that you could tie ocean containers down with.

The market represents a place where Haitians can find order and normalcy in addition to fresh groceries. The familiarity of the place reminded me that we are all more similar than we are different. Well, not exactly the same. Our global citizens seem to be more bilingual then we are back home. Many Haitian schools require the students to learn French and Spanish as well as English. But we all seem to want and need the same things. And thanks to the internet, many of the people I talk to get very excited when they find I work at Best Buy.

One way or another they’ll get through this. As the Turks say “Seni öldürmeyen, güçlendirir.” That what does not kill you makes you stronger.

See you next time…

July 6, 2010

I never thought I would make it to the beach while I was here but yesterday (Sunday) was spent on the beach at an old resort. I guess I should known better being on an island. The few so-so roads are heavily traveled. Many people get around on tap-tap’s (a converted mini 4 wheel drive with a topper. Picture 8 to 10 people crammed in that tight of a space in very hot and humid conditions.

The tap-taps are a very inexpensive and colorful (albeit uncomfortable) means of transport. Just don’t be on one when an axle breaks and the truck rolls (as happened on Sunday). The UN security forces and the police were out in full force in anticipation of the huge crowds we encountered. The police have a difficult time responding to help as their fuel is now rationed. We are starting to scramble to keep diesel in the tanks of the vehicles we are using. 

Speaking of vehicles, there are not many options to move relief supplies. As you have heard from me before, the roads are narrow and obstacles are many. In this environment small 4 wheel drive trucks are the rolling stock of choice. Nevertheless, it can get interesting trying to tie down a 10 foot stack of mattresses (very thin mattresses indeed). Seeing a group of young men struggling to hold them in place, I got to demonstrate a truckers knot for leverage. I then added a slip knot to finish it off and make it easy to untie at the other end. You would have thought I had shown them a magic trick as the whole gang of young men took turns trying it out. Somehow I never thought I’d be performing for a crowd in Haiti?

July 7, 2010

As we drove to work this morning we came across a wall holding back the hillside. It appeared a huge mouth had taken a bite out of it in an effort to devour the whole thing. Apparently its eyes were too big for its stomach as chunks of debris were spewed out around the base of the gap. Directly underneath the bite mark were the faded words "S'il vous plait" which some of you know translates to “please” in the French language. Nobody will ever piece back together the puzzle of what was written above. Who knows; maybe there never was anything else. 

The back roads to work were all but washed out after last night’s rain. I am reminded of traveling over rough passes in the Colorado Rockies but the paradigm of high stone walls superimposed over pine trees is too much for my mind to handle. Blind corners and merging traffic is managed deftly and politely as a slight horn tap replaces the need for Yield and Stop signs. I find it humorous that these rocky slopes actually have street signs. 

Ok, now for a Haitian treat. Buy plantains from the produce section of your Super Market. Please let them ripen for a couple of days. Don’t let them get too humid. Try ripening them on your counter in a paper bag. My Haitian friends tell me that they are ripe when they feel soft you’re your forearm and turn mostly yellow. Papita’s Frita’s are better than tortilla chips and contain potassium. Peel the plantain like a banana and use a vegetable peeler to make long and very thin strips (1/8th x 1 & ½ inch). Fry them in vegetable oil lightly, remove and pat dry, and dust with a little salt. Or, you can travel to Haiti and buy them for 20 Gourde’s per bag (about 50 cents). They are addictive.

Talk to you soon…

July 8, 2010

Capacity for change
Everyone who works in the CE (consumer electronics) industry, retail, and certainly all of us at Best Buy, deal with change every day. We all tend to deal with it in our way. This afternoon I ran across the DC yard to see if the squall that passed through had dumped enough rain for me to spot where the corrugated roof was failing. Not a drop had landed inside on the big blue tarps draped over donations at one end of the building. The clouds were still hanging dark, heavy and low against the tops of the buildings as I made it back inside the logistics office just in time to see all power go out. At 2PM it was as dark as midnight. I am used to working in an office with consistent electricity, connectivity and air conditioning. Sitting in the dark was just not part of my bigger plan.

I asked my friend the supply chain manager if this was a normal occurrence since the earthquake. He laughed at me and told me it happened all the time. He went on to say that as a young man of nineteen back in 1976 he had moved to New York City. He was there during the famous blackout of that year. Fellow New Yorker’s were amazed at the calm demeanor displayed by him and his fellow Haitian countrymen as everyone else around them panicked. You see Haitians were used to the undependability of basic services that we take for granted. He went on to explain that in Haiti the people had a capacity for change knowing that the bad things will pass.

What is your capacity for change? The Haitian’s say in Creole “A demen” (until tomorrow). Maybe we can all learn to shift our “lens” just a little and realize that a small change in what we do in our business or personal lives turns out to be not such a big thing after all. And maybe, it may turn out to be a really fantastic thing.

A demen to you all. (On my way up to Hinche on the Central Plateau today and scheduled to return on Friday night)

July 9, 2010

To Hinche and Back
The rules of the open road here are informal, polite, and a little bit confusing. There are no painted center lines. When overtaking a slower moving vehicle at extreme highway speeds, a soft tap of the horn is given. The vehicle in front responds by turning on the LEFT turn signal. An acknowledgement of the blinking light is another soft tap of the horn.

We make our way up to the Central Plateau to Hinche (Ench in Creole) in the middle of the country and adjacent to the border with the “DR” as everyone here refers to the Dominican Republic. The road is switchback and as soon as it crests the first mountain top it changes from blacktop to gravel. It is almost as if the smooth road was just for “show” and we see the real deal as soon as we leave Port Au Prince behind. For the next 3 hours we pound through switchbacks and up and down washouts and detours. Gravel is a relative term here as you can see the photos of grapefruit size rocks that pave the streets. The view is incredible as we pass Lake Peligre, an enormous reservoir held in place by a hydro-electric dam that has fallen into disrepair.

The houses are small and far from mosquito proof. The nicer places in the neighborhoods sport a two tone (always aqua and coral) coat of paint on the side that faces the street. They are joined by an elevated food storage shed (to keep out the pests) and can be used to sleep in during the warmer months (note the metal cones on the legs to keep out the creatures). Speaking of creatures, we stayed in a very nice hotel on Thursday night, sans air conditioning, which can get a bit sticky in high humidity at 100 + degrees. A mouse (at least I hope it was a mouse) ate through half of my watch band while I slept (he accomplished the deed camouflaged under the noise of a hammering fan).

Back Home Sweet Home at the Paradis (paradise)
The sign for the Paradis Hotel (see photo below) says it all: Receptions & Hotel rooms. Air conditioning and restaurant. It’s suitable for marriages, baptisms, confirmations, and even offers dance lessons. The Paradi started out life as a villa surrounding a courtyard. Like most buildings here, the Paradis is a bit of a faded rose. The security guard speaks “spot on” Brooklyn English and sleeps on a cot behind the gate. These are improved accommodations over those who sleep on the roof. At night when I crawl in bed under my mosquito net the paradox is of the two worlds we live in can be bit disconcerting.

Have a good weekend…

July 12, 2010: "And now there will no more chaos"

“L'un, deux, trois, quatre. .. huit, neuf dix.”. “One, two, three, four….eight, nine, ten” the warehouse worker counted off the slots in the new rack upright as he located the position for the new load bar. The warehouse was stacked to overflowing and it had become a monumental task to locate anything before it could be sent on to the beneficiaries. World Vision found and purchased some medium gauge pre-formed metal warehouse racking (not an easy task here in Haiti after the earthquake).

The new racking was part of a much needed warehouse overhaul as bin locations were created and assigned in their national warehouse. We used a home address analogy to explain assigned location methodology. The racks are like city streets, the bays were apartment buildings, and the elevations were apartments. All donated product could be assigned to a specific address and located promptly. Clerical people who had never seen the concept in action jumped into the fray and started numbering bins. Warehouse workers who had never erected rack before took the model I built for them and replicated it multiple times as they put together everything faster than I could keep product moved out ahead of them in order to create room.

The head warehouse person said something in French as he heaved a case into position in a rack bin and heaved a big sigh. I asked the translator what he had said. He replied “And now there will no more chaos”. It looks like Supply Chain people are the same all over the world. All they want is a little organization. Thanks Best Buy for sponsoring a little supply chain order down here in Haiti!

Please see the photos of our racking crew in action…

July 13, 2010: Your reputation precedes you.

In the recent past we’ve all heard much about connected world. Connected World means many things to all of us. Here in Haiti I see how really important the implications of Connected World are to the people here. At World Vision I am working with people from many countries: Africa, Asia, Europe (especially France), the UK, Canada, the US, and Australia. Most of these folks are part of the Relief program and here to fill the immediate needs of the earthquake victims.

They all assume that I am part of the WVI (World Vision International) supply chain. However, when I explain to them who I work for, I get always get the same two responses:

1. You really work for the THE Best Buy? (It seems everyone knows us).
2. That is so great that they would commit to helping us.

One of the major reasons they know who we are is that we deliver on technology. Though I am here for only a short time (3 weeks), many of these people are away from their families for up to a year. They use Skype, they Twitter, they’re on Face book, LinkedIn, and they all carry at least two cell phones. They are addicted to connectivity.

The root cause of their addiction is not what you may think. They crave technology because it is their lifeline to normalcy. Every day they are on the road at 6:30 in the morning and do not return until dark. They are exposed to things that until now I have never seen. I sit with them at the dinner table as they crack open their laptops and reconnect with what we think is the real world.

It can be easy for us to get stuck in the daily grind and become boxed in by the fences we build around our functions. Don’t forget that what you do is important. All of your efforts make the world a smaller place and keep families connected. Keep up the great work!

See you later...

July 17, 2010: Connected World, interns, and stencils (aka just making it happen)

I asked a supply chain person who had worked relief in 9 countries which one was the most difficult to operate in. He replied “Yemen”. I could only imagine working there, thinking back to all of the things we’d read in the news and on-line and seen on TV in the past decade about that place. When I asked him why he chose to work there he replied “Because there was a need there.” He was just getting it done.

Thursday I enlisted the help of a young intern who was in-country for a couple of weeks working with a consultant. He had a free day and he chose to come along with me to help lay out and assign fixed bins for medications in a distribution center in Port Au Prince. We stopped in four different shops looking for stencils to paint locations on the floor. The locations would allow the Dr. and his staff the ability to find and inventory medicines and accessories as easily as the mailman finds your house via your address.

No luck. No luck that is until the Connected World and a smart intern struck again. Our intern popped open his laptop and found a stencil font on-line and formatted and printed them off. We cut through the printed copies into manila folder stock and we were soon in business!

Conditions are very harsh down here. I see chickens, pigs, goats, dogs, and yes, even people digging through the garbage for anything usable. Tap tap drivers wash their cars with the only water available, adjacent to the camp latrines. It is not a pretty sight.

But I also pass by an internet café every day. This is not your usual garden variety internet spot with café latte’s and blueberry scones. The trendy décor is replaced with blue plastic tarp walls. The ceiling is made up of a dirty white canvas emblazoned with the logo of a well known US food assistance program. On a plastic folding picnic table you will two old CRT displays with cases of a color that were all the rage back in the early ‘90’s. But the chairs in front of these old PC’s are always full. And the internet café is in a large camp amidst a sea of temporary plastic homes. Connected World? I think they’re just trying to make something happen.

July 20, 2010: 3 year old shopkeepers, a Haitian wedding, and going home

On the way into work on Saturday morning we passed a candy shop. Really it was nothing more than a couple of crates stacked on top of one another and pressed up hard against the ever present tall walls that demark the upper class homes from the dirt roads we travel through. What made this one unique was the proprietor.

A little girl that could not have been over 4 years old was tallying up the orders of older children’s selections and demanding their correct coins in return. She had such a serious expression on her face and that must have deterred most of the normal boisterous negotiation that seems to prevail in every transaction here.

A traditional Haitian wedding reception held at the Paradis on Sunday night was evidence for me that life goes on. Nothing was spared as everyone was dressed to the “9’s” complete with a parade train of men and boys in baby blue tuxedos, bride’s maid’s, and a cake that stood at least 5’ tall.

At one of the distribution centers we finished building rack for a medical storage room and emptied out and organized two 20’ containers on Saturday and Monday. The later was an interesting piece of work in temperatures that pushed 120 degrees and humid as the Haitian day is long.

On the way to the airport this morning I was taking pictures as usual. We were giving a local volunteer a ride to work on our way to the airport and a nearby distribution center. She asked me why I was taking pictures. I told her I take them so I can explain about what is happening here to my friends back in the US. She said that she sometimes thinks that foreigners only come here to take pictures of the bad things in Haiti. I told her I took pictures of the good things also. I went on to explain that we needed to know what was happening.

She asked me if I thought it would make a difference. As I look back on the last three and a half weeks, I think we accomplished a lot together. We made some quick wins and suggested some long term improvements. To briefly answer her question, I would say “yes” we did make a difference.

Best Buy and Wolf did a great thing in planning, organizing, and coordinating the entire trip. It says a lot about an organization that value’s its global social responsibilities and the solid culture that fosters this behavior. It would be easy to understand in these tough market conditions why an organization may not make a financial commitment like this but BBY has never been big on excuses.

Finally, we also want you to know that we appreciate all of you who read our blog and many of you who e-mailed us with comments and questions.

I’ll see you back home soon…