I have written a fair amount of blog posts so far but I realized today I had been remiss in explaining the name I chose for my business. Red and Bundle, what is that all about people ask me.

When I tell them I named my business after Papa Smurf their bewilderment only grows. To explain all this I have to take you back in time with me. To a place where life was not very different than it is now. But I was younger. About eight or nine years old in fact.

We were visiting my grandparents and my granddad let us watch the Smurfs. The particular episode was called The time capsule. It had druids and magic in it so naturally I thought it was excellent. In the period when everything looked bleak the smurfs had to solve a riddle.

“A twig by itself is too weak; it’s twigs in a bundle you seek.”

And for some reason that single line stuck with me in the back of my head for thirty years. A bit like a time capsule.

Explaining the riddle to the smurfs Papa Smurf said it is about working together. One Smurf alone cannot possibly win this.

To me that is the epitome of a great leader. To recognize that you cannot do this alone, to recognize that the people you work with have their own skills and contributions to make. And to help those people to become the best versions of themselves. To realize that Brainy, Hefty, Handy, and even Clumsy are geniuses in their own right. And to coach and guide people so the sum becomes greater than the parts.

So that is the role I decided I want to fulfill. To work with my clients to make the best of the people, software, and organizations I work with. Red and Bundle means that while we as IT specialists sometimes seem to be practicing magic we cannot save the world all by ourselves. If we want to overcome obstacles we have to work together.

Papa Smurf knows all this. He knows that each and every Smurf has their own nature and their own genius. Even if they drive him bonkers every episode. Because without them he would just be a lonely old Smurf.

Image found here.