Yesterday I spent some time with Scott Ryser, founder and CEO of Yakabod, at their office in downtown Frederick. I had stumbled on their web site several weeks ago and was blown away by their core values (seriously -- more on that later).

What they do is help organizations get their knowledge together, simplify their work, and solve real business problems. Rather than a mass-produced product, they have the technology platform and building blocks to create a customized solution for their customers. It's the relationship between pieces of knowledge and data that provides real value, and their focus in on helping clients unlock the secrets in those relationships.

I hope I got all that right, because to tell you the truth we talked very little about their product or projects (I can't believe I forgot to ask for a demo while I was there...) What we did talk about was doing things right and for the right reasons. I asked him about some of his experiences with starting up a business, dealing with employees, how business was going and how the future looked for them. Good To Great and Topgrading came through as recurring themes...

And I asked specifically about the core values. The first of their core values is Grace, specifically:

• Every person is created of God. Therefore, as a company we treat every person with respect.
• Every person has unique talents from God. Therefore, as a company we treat every role as nobility.
• God's design for you is perfect, but everyone makes choices that are not [perfect]. Therefore, we will nurture a culture in which grace prevails.

When I read that on their website, it seemed that Yakabod was different from any profit-seeking organization I have worked with. When I asked him about it in person, I think I was expecting him to launch into a sermon about grace, but he didn't. My interpretation was that if you operate according to such principles it will be evident in your actions, and there is less need to talk about it. It also left me with the impression that there is no need for Yakabod to be unique regarding grace in business -- we can all do it. In fact, we probably all do in many small ways, so how can we get a grace-culture to reach critical mass? Imagine what your organization would be like if grace was an observable force... (and congrats if you work where it already has).

A public thanks to Scott for taking the time to meet with me, and I'll have to schedule another meeting so I can get a demo of the technology (possibly post a review over at /tech?).

[some blog entries by Scott and others at Yakabod]

Tags: principles, values, grace, knowledge management, bespoke technology