Project 365 – Day 8

“Home away from home” – This was one of the first phrases that came to mind when thinking about showing and describing where I spend a majority of my week.  The Oxford Dictionary defines home away from home as “A place where one is as happy, relaxed, or comfortable as in one’s own home.”  No disrespect to my dear coworkers, but after reconsideration I’m not sure I would characterize my work place as a virtual equivalency to home.  🙂

That said, the band of friends with whom I work are indeed a family.  We spend LOTS of time together; we agree, disagree, have fun, share meals, seek common goals, commiserate, and make each other better.  NCR Small Business, my current division, definitely fits this profile.  It’s one of the most unique experiences I’ve had in my 30+ years at NCR.  We provide a cloud-based subscription point of sale app for small businesses.  NCR Silver runs on mobile tablets like the iPad.  We are an independent start-up within a large global corporation.  We have our own building.  We have our own products, marketing, sales, product management, operations, customer care, R&D, and business development.  We are working on leading edge technology, which arguably will change the future face of NCR’s software products.  We are participating in and defining a market that is still emerging and forming.

Less than 100 people are all in one building, working arm-in-arm daily toward the same ends and solving problems together.  The office is a very open, Silicon Valley-like environment.  Everyone has the same type of desk and open work space, from the GM all the way down through the organization.  We metaphorically “sit face-to-face at the dinner table” daily and work on things like a family, unlike most of my career where people I needed to interact with are stretched across all corners of the earth.

“Home away from home?”  Maybe not.  A close-knit relational family that forges it’s way through ups and downs, finding ways to better itself and those it serves?  Definitely.

Mark’s Desk – NCR Small Business

Fuji X-T1, 14mm f/2.8, 1/90 sec @ f/5.6. ISO3200

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