“Working with Madavi has meant a change of paradigm for Artiem”

To achieve that a company is both happy and competitive is fundamental for Artiem Freshpeople make the difference. With this clear objective it has developed its own model and guidebook, in which two principles stand out that help them make this a reality. The first is the firm conviction that if those who work for Artiem, feel identified and engaged with the project, they will achieve full satisfaction from their clients and that they will identify with their values. The second is that by working to achieve prosperity for all their stakeholders, not only will it fulfil its social responsibility as a Company, but also it will serve to gain sustainable competitive advantages.

This interview is about the philosophy of Freshpeople which marks the road map of this company– with hotels in Madrid, Menorca and Asturias-, and the process of change in which they have been accompanied by Madavi.

“Freshpeople is our way of being, our attitude, our way of seeing the world, and it is also a characteristic that we look for in our clients. We wish to develop a community of people with the same values and objectives as us. “.

In this 25 year trajectory, you reach a point when you decide to go to a Company like Madavi. Why? In what moment did the company find itself?

In 2017 we reflected on how the world had changed, because we saw that it had evolved very quickly and that it was going to change even more.

What we did was to re-think who we were and that made us think about what our purpose was, and our vision and values; to re-think them and re-write them. In that process of reflection, we also had to design a strategic plan for 2019 onwards, and we understood that we needed to do it with new tools.

In this search we saw an interview by chance of Fernando Iglesias, in which he explained what Madavi was and what they did as a company and that led me to calling him immediately in order to really explain his methodology. From that moment we started a process to change the paradigm so as to develop our strategic plan for the following years with Madavi.

Other teams could have accompanied you in this process of change. What made you choose Madavi?

Basically, the difference is the methodology and the foundation on which everything is based, namely, Appreciative Inquiry. Up until then we had worked with people who used traditional methodologies. We saw that with those tools we were not going to advance with the strength and speed that our environment needed at that moment.

The vision and methodology of Madavi was what caught our attention. When you choose a partner, like anything in life, it is also important to find trust. And that trust in Madavi encouraged us to not seek different alternatives.

Our experience with Madavi can be summarised as: abundance, simultaneity and collective intelligence.

Pepe Díaz explains what the work carried out by Madavi has meant: “a change in the way of seeing things”. Two changes in the paradigm: abundance and simultaneity. And as a result of these two, collective intelligence: “we all know everything”. “To place value on what we all know is undoubtedly the third leg which has helped us to start to change and evolve in that process of cultural transformation, which is not a process of one or two days but rather a process which will probably last several years”.

“Like a lot of companies, we focused before in seeing what we did not have and trying to construct what we did not have. Abundance, on the contrary, tells you: you have a lot, value it. This way of focusing has made us change even the way in which we have our usual conversations. And thus, the abundance that we have is starting to emerge “.

To this abundance, we can add the importance of simultaneity, in the sense that “we have to all advance together”. Pepe Díaz recalls the famous African saying: if you want to go a long way travel accompanied; if you want to travel fast go alone. “Well we want to go far and accompanied and so simultaneity has helped us to make everyone visualize that we have to advance together and simultaneously”.

Has the Appreciative Inquiry culture spread throughout the organisation?

We are working on it; obviously, it is a change of paradigm, of a way of thinking, that firstly we have to digest. Logically, that is not automatic, it is a process that takes time and on which we are making progress. I think everyone is clear about the path and like all things in life one has to walk down it.

Pepe Díaz tells us that in the summit held with Madavi all the departments of Artiem participated; all the members of the organization. “We were 87 people, all with the same voice and freedom of choice. We made everyone participate in a project, and above all we visualized it together and everyone felt that they could contribute. This made people engage, you could see a lot of enthusiasm, people very stimulated and very pro-actively doing things. That for me was a great change.”.

We are working on it; obviously, it is a change of paradigm, of a way of thinking, that firstly we have to digest. Logically, that is not automatic, it is a process that takes time and on which we are making progress. I think everyone is clear about the path and like all things in life one has to walk down it.

Pepe Díaz tells us that in the summit held with Madavi all the departments of Artiem participated; all the members of the organization. “We were 87 people, all with the same voice and freedom of choice. We made everyone participate in a project, and above all we visualized it together and everyone felt that they could contribute. This made people engage, you could see a lot of enthusiasm, people very stimulated and very pro-actively doing things. That for me was a great change”.

A Summit is a  collaborative event for many: 20, 50, 100, 200 or more. When it is held all the people necessary for success and the creation of collective action towards an attractive image of the future are gathered together at the same time and the same place. In Madavi, we change the way in which organizations change; and to do so, instead of analysing the problems, we inquire into what we call “Summit Moments”.

What do you value most about your experience with Madavi and what has been the most valuable lesson?

The most valued is a combination of the three legs of support: abundance, simultaneity and collective intelligence; the tripod to which I have already referred and the most valuable lesson:  that everyone can contribute. That not only those above but any person in the organization is capable of contributing in a decisive and valuable manner. It is something gives the organization much more value and strength.

Do you have an experience that serves as an example of what you experienced in the Summit with Madavi?

We had several experiences but at the end of the day it was the faces of the people; the enthusiasm and the desire to move forward; the smiles and the gestures the people transmitted. At the beginning of the Summit some people transmitted a certain incredulity or uncertainty, but at the end of three days, at the end of the Summit, people were throbbing with energy and that is what I take away with me.

The Summit was held during three days, and different areas of opportunity emerged as Pepe Díaz explained:

“From the Summit 8 areas of opportunity emerged; there were sponsors, co-leaders… People who joined those areas of opportunity, and from there small projects and quick wins. And now we are seeing the way to intergrade it into the day to day of the company; trying to get the people to understand it is not simply more work but rather part of their work. And that by interiorising these areas of opportunity they become levers to improve our daily work and above all to improve and contribute to the development of the company. We are trying to develop those projects that were outlined”

If you had to choose a phrase that sums up your project with Madavi…

The word would be hope. I think it can be summed up like that. At the end of the day, what you are doing is making everyone participate in the project, to be pro-active and to feel excitement and that they can contribute. I think that is most important.

In this respect Pepe Díaz recognises that as the leader of this team he has not felt alone. “I believe that on many occasions I no longer take the decisions; They are taken by many people and you feel much more supported. The saying that if you travel by yourself you will travel fast but if you travel accompanied you will travel far becomes yours. This is the change that we are seeing culturally”.

The methodology of “Changing the way in which we change” is very different and innovative. What do think of this methodology?

It is very powerful; now we have to study how to accompany this process of change which is long term.

It is also very important to create a platform to exchange and share experiences because this could triplicate the speed and multiply the value of things.

We end the interview asking Pepe Díaz what it means to them “Growing For Good”, which is one of the principles which make up their culture and how he views it looking to the future.

“We are capable of generating prosperity for all our stakeholders; not only as a social responsibility, but also it is a way of creating a competitive advantage.  We have interiorized it.

We already had it, 25 years ago when we started although we did not know what it was called. We thought that that was the way things had to be. I think that if all companies thought that way the world would be a very different place.

Our vision is now to prove that this works and that these values really are levers of change. In the world, more and more people think the same, which means that it works and our mission is to prove that it is possible.