Through the creation and evolution of Burning Man, Larry Harvey (deceased) developed events grounded in a culture of accountability. They are the recipients of this month’s Feet to the Fire Hall of Fame™ award. Each year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. Over the years, Burning Man has expanded from a single event to regional events held around the world, from Africa to Australia, to Europe and many parts of the US and Canada.
This past weekend we attended Freezer Burn, Alberta’s regional Burning Man event. This sold-out event hosted 1,000 participants. We have attended what “burners” call “the big burn” (i.e. Burning Man in Black Rock Desert) four times and Freezer Burn in Alberta, five times.
At this year’s Freezer Burn, over 25 percent of the attendees formally volunteered. They stepped up as rangers, firefighters, EMS, and artists – both designers and builders. Freezer Burn hinges on the creation of many pieces of art, including seven mutant vehicles, the Man and the Temple.
The majority of the 1,000 participants volunteered or gifted their services and items to others while in attendance. Janet and Kyle offered their yummy grilled cheese sandwiches on Sunday morning. I feasted on eggs benedict at one of the camps, and shared wine, trail mix and career advice and networking contacts with young attendees. My husband gave Reiki or Bowen Therapy treatments to dozens of people. An Elvis impersonator officiated a wedding. I enjoyed tea and homemade goodies at the Enchanted Forest.
Our camp was right next to Kidsville which was a lot of fun for us. The kids spent hours climbing and playing on a bouncy castle and slide or on the grass with their parents and other children. Other event attendees participated with the children – one person brought a cotton candy machine on wheels and made cotton candy for the line-up of excited children. Another held science experiments where green foamy slime gurgled up and out of a large beaker, and the older kids gathered with the ingredients to make slime. These were not parents of the children in Kidsville. These were participants contributing and volunteering in their own way.
Whenever we were at our site, we enjoyed watching the interactions. A mom from BC told me when people express surprise at their young children attending a festival, she has told them that if one of the children wandered off at Freezer Burn, she would be more confident that they were being well taken care of than at any other location or interaction in her daily life. I agree with her. There is a strong sense of community and everyone looks out for each other.
Some of the Ten Principles of Burning Man are mirrored in the best-run companies.
Organizations of all sizes would benefit from not only adopting, but holding people accountable to, the values of Burning Man. Some examples are:
- communal effort
- civic responsibility, and
- gifting which “does not contemplate a return or exchange for something of equal value.”
While business periodicals have been writing about the challenges of organizational change for decades, companies are still challenged with organizational change.
At Freezer Burn and Burning Man, one of the principles is participation with the expectation “that transformative change…can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation”. I see this most often with entrepreneurs and company founders.
Imagine if we could engage more of our employees and even ourselves in deep personal participation with our work?
Every month, I feature an exceptional business, recognizing their efforts and strengths through my Feet to the Fire© Hall of Fame. Contact me to nominate an outstanding business that demonstrates accountability and business excellence.
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©2019 Lorraine A. Moore. All rights reserved. Permission granted to excerpt or reprint with attribution.