Boom Is our Flowers and Fire staff team go-to word when we are communicating anything  Especially when we get a good review or solve a problem. It’s super cheesy. We kind of use it ironically but also kind of seriously  Having a strong team is everything to us here. So constructing our own cheesy jargon is part of that. I’m sure you all have your funny words that you use within your teams or families.

In Indonesian culture and in Islam, the religious culture which our staff comes from, community, unity and fraternity are central values. It is a culture based on egalitarian principles. I’ve learned so much about teamwork watching how our staff operate here. If they can work together they are happy. We don’t allocate specific roles which separate them out from each other. Instead, they have specialty areas which they teach to each other so most guys can do most things. Sahar- the lovely young man in the picture here illustrates this perfectly. He is our assistant manager. Anyone that has met him will vouch for his hilarious humor, his loving nature and his incredible capacity and dedicated work ethic. Because the values of brotherhood and equality are so important to him, he does not want to order anyone around or tell others what to do! We are learning to recreate his role so that he can fulfill his managerial duties without transgressing these values. To try to manage others while retaining the spirit of equality. Nasir who is our head manager and Sahar’s teacher in many ways, also works beautifully in this way and has created the wonderful family culture which we enjoy here. It’s a fine balance and an art. Effective management within a framework based on equality and respect. As company director this is certainly my goal so I learn as I watch how the guys do it. Every day we all get a little better at this as we work it out together. Boom!