Ripple Intent Stories
Christine Schneider
Learning a whole new approach to professional interactions.
Prior to joining Ripple Intent I wanted to explore how I could improve communication with colleagues, lead with empathy, and generally progress how we work and interact with one another.
Digging into the Strengths Finders and engaging in open discussions helped me to better understand how to approach conversations with an understanding of how other people operate and how their strengths played into their thought process. They allowed me to take a step back, reflect, and adjust how I explained my position—not just assuming it automatically made sense to the other person. Ripple Intent provided me with the skills needed to adjust my approach in those conversations to meet others halfway based off of where they were at.
Ripple Intent also opened up a whole new approach in my interactions with colleagues and professional peers. It allowed me to reflect and adjust my interactions with those around me based on who they are, how they approach decision making (through their strengths), and how they operate. It has been a true gamechanger.
Impacting the industry one coffee and taco at a time.
Stephen Powell
I attended my first Ripple Intent in Houston after hearing about them over the first few events in Portland. I had only been in Dallas for a little while and was looking for community. I had joined the LCI COP for DFW and one of the other members and I decided to make a Road trip to an LCI event in San Antonio and drive over that evening to Houston for my first event. I honestly didn’t know what it was, but knowing that what I had come to love about Lean was the Respect for People portion coupled with Continuous Improvement. I was intrigued. The ideas from Ripple toward really looking at a person and trying to engage in a way that develops trust and respect stuck with me. When it came back to Dallas, I was all in. The second time, we talked about how to carry out this conversation more consistently in DFW. I have been excited to work to further this message and impact peers in this market. I know that it is unlike any other event or meeting a professional in this industry could experience with such a simple investment of time and experiences.
I have discovered my strengths as an Includer and in Winning Others Over (Woo). I found a forum and group with whom I can focus on improving our teams and the industry one coffee and taco at a time. The ripple is a cliché, but it is real. I want to always be thought of us as someone who really wants the best for our people, our projects, and our clients holistically. My personal life has seen a lot more respect for my family and times with them. I travel a lot for work, but this has helped me think about ways to be purposeful when I am present and thinking about others around me. It doesn’t happen without work, and I have found that Ripple Intent is a part of the ways we can work to really form a character that respects people and learns daily.
Christine Sosnowski
Facilitating Rather than Dictating
Before coming to a Ripple Intent event, I was just starting a new role and knee-deep in studying company processes in different series of A3’s. I was excited about the potential to make better processes for the company and my teammates. Then, in 2020, my role fizzled out and I was in the field fighting fires and trying to not lose my cool everyday. I really knew something had to change as I was started to see people as their position in the company and what I needed from them rather than fostering true teamwork and collaboration. I was stuck in a rut and knew there could be something better, I just wasn’t sure where to find it.
Being involved in the Ripple Intent Symposium was truly a breath of fresh air amidst the chaos. I was surrounded by people who were not only excited about improving process but also extremely passionate about making others better human beings. I broke into my comfort zone and really fell in love with facilitating in lieu of dictating. I also realized my top value was making a difference in my company, role, and relationships, which all started with a gut check of my own self awareness and emotional intelligence.
Now that I’ve been involved with Ripple intent for the past 4 years, I feel more comfortable facilitating conversations on topics like trust and vulnerability with clients. I feel more confident in my career path and am more passionate about helping others succeed. Ripple Intent really brings people together to take a step back and focus on creating better human interactions which makes both our jobs and lives more fulfilling.
Finding an approach that applies across industries and can even work at home.
Jimm Schroeder
Many of us have been through professional training to “improve efficiency”. The 100x Leader, Strength Finder, Culture Hacker, and the list goes on. The common theme I see is the focus on efficiency and output based on the psychology of people and identifying personality types to achieve some level of harmony. I have always believed there is value in this knowledge, but I felt the ability to apply could be difficult if the participants hadn’t been through the same education or if I had to spend too much time explaining the science behind the plans. I don’t know if many of those approaches addressed what motivates individuals.
Ripple Intent caught my attention based on its origins in design and construction. As a consultant at the time, I was looking for a more simplified and natural way to help team members discover themselves and find their motivation. This industry has so many trades, specialties, vendors, customers, executives, project managers, and suppliers… working towards a common goal, and it’s an industry that is perceived to be a high-change order-add service proposition. An issue that I have seen time and time again over the years is a heavy focus on “why” and “who” caused an issue or change order. This did more to contribute to defensive actions and a bit of chaos rather than identifying solutions and better ways to work together quickly. We are human and will make mistakes along the way. The stress and burnout were visible in the teams around me at the hospital and in consulting.
I’ve found that there are many moving parts and pieces to achieve a better way to work together. There’s no silver bullet or singular thing to get to that goal. Every breakfast club is a piece of the process delivered in an engaging, simple, and brief way to adjust my personal behavior and perceptions. It’s a topic or area to focus on with quick insightful ways to evolve my perspective, and then I spend the next several weeks in the application.
After the last two breakfast meetings, I have seen that although the Ripple Intent approach may have come from design and construction (capital projects), the lessons can apply in nearly every professional setting I have been in and even occasionally at home dealing with a teenager. The last several weeks have been heavy on communicating “worth”. Who knew?
I have considered myself an optimist for many years. Having applied more time and thought from a Ripple Intent view, I believe I may be even more optimistic. I am more aware of my surroundings in meetings and conversations and take more time to consider what is being said or asked, what might have influenced the discussion, and what my best response is. I have become more intentional in my people interactions; it feels much more natural now.
Stephanie Roldan
Giving the best she can offer to her family and company.
Before getting involved with Ripple Intent I was challenged with balancing my workload and my home life when I attended my first Ripple Intent event. I was an Essentialist before Ripple Intent but I didn’t know why I would still betray my Essentialist rules. I knew that I couldn’t say yes to everything, and I was self-aware enough to know how that was hurting those in my life, but I couldn’t stop myself. Then I attended my first Ripple Intent event where they were using CoreClarity as a tool to discover talents and strengths. I realized then, that I had a “talent addiction” that was driving me and feeding me. I also knew that if I was struggling with this many within my company were too. I’m now an in-house CoreClarity facilitator for my company. I now focus on building my talents into strengths every day and helping those within my organization do the same. I use CoreClarity every day to understand myself and those around me. I feel like after 2 full years of practicing and learning that I now make decisions that keep me motivated and moving forward and that brings my best to those around me. I rarely find myself violating an Essentialist life, and because of this priority is placed where it needs to be when it needs to be. My family and my company now both get the best of what I have to offer this world.
Helping others operate best by intentionally changing her approach.
Stephanie Herriage
Before getting involved with Ripple Intent I felt like I was able to communicate effectively with some people and definitely not with others, and I wanted to understand why and how to work better with the latter. I always knew that every person is different, but it was one of those things that you don’t think about when you’re in the moment talking to someone. Going to the Ripple Intent Symposiums started to get me thinking about understanding how other people operate, what their needs are, and how I can alter my interactions with them to meet those needs. The Symposiums are kind of more of a boost of new ideas, and then having monthly events helps keep these kinds of things in the forefront of my mind. Through Ripple Intent I learned to intentionally change my approach to interactions with people differently based on who they are and how they operate best.
Mark Bokhoven
Ripple Intent transformed his team 180 degrees.
Before coming to Ripple Intent I struggled with Low employee engagement and trust. Everyone protected their own interests and were committed to being right (their viewpoint of right) and were defensive. Personally, I was struggling to know if there was a different way to work and live. I didn’t understand why it was acceptable to show up every day to complain and be negative but saw it all around me.
The Ripple Intent conference and subsequent breakfast meetings provided a spark for me to try. It showed there were others out there that were doing things differently. It provided me ideas and practical ways to bring up trust, vulnerability, and respect to my team. Although I was scared to try, cause it was radically different from what our normal work looked like, it gave me confidence that other people were finding success.
Ripple Intent has transformed our team 180 degrees. We now are building a team based on values and humans, not just on metrics and projects. We share in our successes and failures, building relationships, not just going through motions to get the job done. We are purposefully crafting a culture that is attracting employees to join in working and living differently. Ripple Intent has also empowered me to share my story and values. It has led me to have more conversations, with more people, than I ever imagined. It has opened my eyes that there is a different way to work and live, and given me encouragement to continue every day to make a positive change.
Consistently challenged and inspired by the community.
Sarah Moser
Before my first Ripple Intent event, I was aware that the pace, workload and high stakes of our industry were minimizing the focus on the human aspect of our profession, but I often felt alone in wanting to change that, and I had no idea how to start. It was disheartening to feel that as a young professional I wasn’t in a position to drive positive change. Ripple Intent has become a community for me. I love learning from others with different backgrounds, talents, and values, from all sides of our industry, about how they’re trying to improve the ways we work together.
I’m consistently challenged and inspired by these individuals and now feel encouraged and empowered to make a positive difference in any way I can, and to be my authentic self in everything I do. Now that I have been involved with Ripple Intent my mindset has shifted; anyone can be a leader no matter their title or position. Capitalizing on my strengths, consistently demonstrating my values, and having an awareness and appreciation for the strengths of others has made me a more well-rounded architect, a better leader, and a more confident person in all aspects of my life.
Amy Powell
Ripple Intent provides a space to break down silos, and open opportunities that deadlines and competition can frequently mask.
Before coming to Ripple Intent my largest problem was seeing and hearing the struggles of my teammates and trade partners and feeling that I needed to help, but honestly feeling helpless because I felt I was in the same boat. I seemed to be a confidant at work, which I very much value that people were open to coming to me, but I never felt like I could help them, I felt like I was trying to figure it out myself and I didn’t have any answers for them. It was discomforting not being able to help. I wanted to!
Ripple Intent has introduced me to myself. It sounds silly, but when you are in a room of amazing people, with similar struggles, who don’t have all the answers, but have the motivation and drive to find those answers with the intent of improving the industry, and ourselves within the industry, amazing things can happen. Ripple Intent for me, provides a space to break down silos, and open opportunities that deadlines and competition can frequently mask.
I now do not have hesitancy in collaborating and connecting with other industry members. I have better self-awareness as well as social awareness to see past the silos and see the greater need and opportunities within the industry. I feel like a path that I have always wanted to explore has been cleared. Interestingly, the barriers were all my own perceived barriers that Ripple Intent helped me identify, but I am excited to see where it goes. Additionally, as an added bonus, I have friends who have joined me on this journey that I originally thought I had to go alone.