Talking Core Values and Who We Are
At Dispatch Custom Cycling Components, we've purposely rejected the soulless corporate babble that often comes with the territory. PowerPoint, meetings for meetings, shareholder & investor bullshit for the sake of ego, and overbearing protocols.
Don't get me wrong. We're a process oriented manufacturer, so some of this has to exist. I have no problem with any of that when it serves a purpose vs self.
For instance, going from new product idea to delivered in your hands has a very focused set of steps that must happen in order to serve you properly. For that, process and protocol are paramount to being able to deliver happy customers our bicycle stem caps and custom bar end plugs (especially). There's very little tolerance for errors.
That said, one of the hold outs I've made has been around so-called core values. Having read hundreds and having had many attempted to be beaten into my resistant soul, I can tell you I find them to be worthless in most instances.
Why?
Because the are written in a vacuum against some arbitrary date. ("We're not leaving this executive offsite until we establish 3 core values and a mission statement." Yawn. Commence values and mission creation by committee so we can get to that bar!)
So while it was always something in my head, it wasn't going to be something I forced. I'd embrace them when they felt right.
I sat through a couple of workshops, collaborated with a few external resources and fringe interested parties, but they never felt right.
I wasn't going to give in for the sake of checking it off. The product and company thrived just fine without them. So when it felt right and I had them, then I, and I alone would commit them to the company.
It's with that, that I'm now ready to share with you the Dispatch mission and our core values.
First, our mission: To be succinct, our mission is to get more people on their bicycles. I fundamentally believe the world is a better place with more people moving on bicycles. From sport to utility, it does the person a ton of good and when the person is served, so then are families, friends, communities and nations. Happy, healthy people are good. Bicycles are an incredible tool for health and man's most incredible invention. We seek to get more people in this flow of stoke.
As for our core values, after many years of experience in the business, an epiphany and a couple moments of clarity (and a bourbon or two).
- Go Fast - We are a small company with many loyal fans. We need to move quickly to continue to survive and thrive. We'll make mistakes, but we'll have a bias towards movement first.
- Be Bold - Have you seen our product catalog? We make no reservations about who we are. In 2021, there were 19 million bicycles sold in the United States and Dispatch is here to make your bicycle yours. That means being bold, different and creating a product that allows our customers to identify as part of the tribe, while being unique in that tribe.
- Make Turns - Sometimes we're going to screw up. It happens. We need to be fast to identify those mistakes, correct them and get back on course. Making turns is part of every ride. No ride is a straight line - even if Strava says it is. We're always moving and we're always course-correcting.
- Enjoy The Ride - If it isn't fun, we're just not going to do it anymore. Period. There are plenty of reasons, places and people to be miserable about. That's not welcome here. We're here for the fun. Hard work? Sure! But we're having fun while we do it.
As the keeper of the code, I'm here to monitor, deliver and keep it. My goal is to create a company that lives up to it as consistently as possible.
Let me know how we're doing some day, will ya?
-Brian
