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GO COMMANDERS!!!!

Dye & Eskin, Inc. (D&E) has been committed to the Washington Commanders, DC’s professional football team, since we were first able to afford tickets over 60 years ago! During all that time, we could only point to two years, 1983 and 1991, as highlights when, the then Redskins, won the NFL title and when we had our winningest season.

Fortunately, our loyalty has paid off as our team begins its trip through the NFL playoffs in search of the current Super Bowl! In addition, our commitment has given us an opportunity to learn things from this team that have been applied to and worked well within our business. D&E has learned that the development of culture within ones organization can be as important as talent.

We have learned that team effectiveness is science not art. What is referred to as “fit for purpose” is more important than top talent. A team of superstars does not inherently make a great team. The dynamics of interaction are much more important than personal, vested interests.

Trust, communication, innovative thinking and decision-making are the keys to great team building. Commanders: New owner; New head coach; New quarterback. The culture has completely changed.

We have also learned that teams can be differentiated by whether they operate as an individual team or a team of individuals. There may not be a right or wrong among those two approaches. It is a recognition of how the team is oriented and with that a knowledge of how to maximize effectiveness.

Possibly the most important learning from our loyalty to the Commanders is their commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I). For the Commanders, DE&I is central to their business model. They have a separate division staffed by senior level executives whose focus is to help the team leverage its platform to address social issues and contribute to positive community impact.

Washington D.C. is a highly diverse city. The Commanders are committed to putting on programs and initiatives designed to drive progress and that go beyond words to bring impactful, positive outcomes to our community.

D&E is proud to support the Commanders. They are so much more than a football team.

1953!

No doubt there is head scratching about anyone titling an article with a date that doesn’t appear to jump off the page with historical significance.

The fact is that in 1953 many significant achievements came to fruition that continue to impact quality of life:

  • Jonas Salk announced the development of the Polio Vaccine
  • The chemical structure of DNA was discovered
  • Jacques Cousteau published “The Silent World”
  • General Motors unveiled the Corvette

One other achievement of 1953, certainly less heralded, but no less impactful, was the crediting of the concept of “Brainstorming” to Alex Osborn the co-founder of BBDO, the worldwide marketing communications network. His goal was to formalize the creative process of coming up with ideas.

Brainstorming is a creative technique where a group of people interact to suggest ideas spontaneously. The volume and variety of ideas are stressed. The goal is to problem solve through a group effort with ideas just popping up.

Post-It Notes and the iPhone both originated from brainstorming sessions.

The first rule of brainstorming is to come up with as many ideas as possible. It is a quantity over quality exercise.

The second rule is to refrain from judging ideas during the process.

The third rule is to encourage even the most unconventional and illogical ideas.

Finally, everyone should be allowed to build upon other’s ideas.

At Dye & Eskin, Inc. we recognize the incredibly fast-paced nature of the employee benefits business. Innovation is not optional, but rather is required to separate ourselves from others in the field.

We embrace innovation and love brainstorming to bring critical ideas and process changes our clients have come to expect.

Brainstorming is a business way of life for us. Call us to discuss the ideas that are on your mind, and we will share what’s on ours. Together we will come up with great solutions.

Dye & Eskin, Inc.

Call Rick or Jake Eskin for an innovative discussion of topics on your mind.

703 556 0744

TENACITY!

As some of you may know, we at Dye & Eskin, Inc. (D&E) are dog lovers. From mutts to AKC purebreds, many dogs of all shapes and sizes have found homes with us, and some are happily ensconced as members of the office staff.

One group of dogs is particularly well aligned with us by personality – TERRIERS! Terriers are an incredibly TENACIOUS group of dogs, and that trait has served them well over the generations. You can say they possess a level of “doggedness” that translates to persistence of effort and indomitable perseverance.

In 1993, Jimmy Valvano delivered his famous farewell speech imploring the audience to Never, Ever Give Up. His presentation was extremely emotional, and incredibly powerful in both its immediate and long-term effects. At D&E we have combined the tenacious attitude of terriers with the persistent determination of Jimmy Valvano.

For us, tenacity is a core value. It allows us to face business and personal obstacles with goal directed energy and action. We know that a fierce blend of determination, persistence, and grit is the trait that means the difference from being just all right to thriving. The difference between success and failure.

Over the years, though, we have also learned that tenacity can be a negative when you focus on something well past its usefulness. It can be an expensive lesson to learn but it is critical to temper tenacity with rational thinking. It is also important to be sure to have clarity between resilience and tenacity. Resilience is also critical because it fuels the “way back” when we get off track. Tenacity is more active and represents the path to unstoppable progress.

At D&E tenacity is an admirable trait, a core value and the driver of our business.

Never Stop!

Never Quit!

Never Settle!

CREATIVITY and INNOVATION

At Dye & Eskin, Inc.  we have two goals: to create ongoing value for our clients and to keep our employees engaged and productive.  We are obsessed with delivering outcomes that matter to all our constituents. As a future focused organization, we strive to balance the products and processes we imagine with the value we deliver to carriers, clients, and colleagues.

Creativity is the keystone of our business model. It is an overarching concept focused on developing unique ideas. Those ideas may be singular in nature, or an ideation may result in combining multiple approaches to come up with new results. Creativity starts in the theoretical. It is generally abstract and difficult to quantify. It is the human capacity that allows us to envision possibilities.  It is subjective in nature and very hard, if not impossible, to measure.

Innovation is the process of translating those ideas into new products or processes. It is a practical application of what has been envisioned. The focus is on execution and commercializing the concepts that have been ideated. As opposed to creativity, the results of innovation are measurable in terms of market impact, efficiency, and profitability. 

Innovation brings ideas to life.

Innovation may result in a reboot of how you grow. It forces us to deal with what is not working and causes us to become nimbler and quicker in our execution.  We are forced to think about where we are talent deficient, how we can further optimize our business model, and what we are passionate about as we grow our business. 

In today’s world, just being better doesn’t work anymore. Being DIFFERENT does. The combination of creativity and innovation forces us to think about our business models and our passions.

 It creates our path to success.