Hello DCS Engineering and welcome to our weekly reminder where I do my best to remind us of the purpose in the work we do together. This week I’m thinking about thanksgiving. A quick internet search took me to the History Channel website. The first thanksgiving celebration was in 1621 but it wasn’t until 1863 in the middle of the Civil War that President Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. Now I know what you’re thinking. There are lots of quotes and saying attributed to Lincoln on the internet. One of my favorites, that is NOT something Lincoln ever said was “the best way to predict the future is to create it” – I liked it so much I put it on a wall once with Lincoln’s name attached. And then I learned it wasn’t something honest Abe ever said. So, I’ve learned the hard way to be cautious about what you read on the internet especially if it’s attributed to President Lincoln. So I cross checked this and ended up pretty confident that I had the history right here. Pilgrims held their second Thanksgiving celebration in 1623 to mark the end of a long drought that had threatened the year’s harvest and prompted Governor Bradford to call for a religious fast. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. His successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies. And in 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a different day. But back to President Lincoln. This year I read Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin and after reading that, I’m amazed that during the civil war with all the personal and national tragedy surrounding him, he chose then to ask the nation to stop and give thanks. And it’s a good reminder for me – in amongst the chaos and sadness and loss that comes, to even then, maybe most of all then, live in gratitude. Lincoln’s proclamation said: “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.” So I hope as you look ahead to this thanksgiving holiday you will take time to give thanks and practice gratitude. Speaking of which, I’m sure thankful for each of you. For who you are, the way you work, and your contributions to DCS and our team. I hope you each have a Happy Thanksgiving!

12.Nov – Are they breathing? Hello DCS Engineering and welcome to our weekly reminder where I do my best to remind us of the purpose in the work we do together. This week I’m reflecting on the amount of work our team is tackling right now. I’m amazed at the level of competence and commitment from our team. Rising to challenges with new customers, new ways of working, and being great teammates. I’m also encouraged by the way I see our team working. Living our values and encouraging one another. Speaking of encouragement, do you remember from our offsite this spring the section of Team Work where we talked about building each other up? Brian shared a quote from Chick Fil A founder Cathy Truett: “how do you know if someone needs encouragement? If they are breathing!” so that’s my challenge for you this week. Find someone on your team who is breathing and encourage them. They need it and deserve it. After all if they work at DCS they are doing important work. The right way. And delivering the best employee and customer experience in the industry. And that’s worth encouraging! Thanks for all you do and for who you are!

Hello DCS Engineering and welcome to our weekly reminder where I do my best to remind us of the purpose in the work we do together. This week, I’m thinking about our growing team and the work we have done and the work we have in front of us in the coming year. DCS spends a TON of time, more than any place I’ve worked, on looking at sales forecasts and projecting resource needs. It’s refreshing and important and aligns to our culture of taking good care of each other. I’ve also just celebrated my 46th birthday. And I’ve been reflecting on what I have learned in the past year. I’ve learned that this focus on taking good care of each other has resulted in positive customer experiences and that has resulted in additional opportunities to grow our team and do more good work for even more customers. It’s pretty neat to see it work. One of the areas I’m most pleased with as we’ve grown our team is our commitment to our culture. Our interview teams focus on behaviors related to living our values and being great team players. It's only right that we make it very clear the behaviors we expect from our team members during the interview process. Most of you know that because most of you have been through this interview process. I’d ask you to also continue to hold each other accountable for living our values and being great team players. Now that you are here, you get to help grow not only our capacity and capability to deliver great work for our customers but also a great work experience and environment for one another. To help us prioritize delivering the best customer and employee experience in the industry. Thanks for who you are and all you do. Have a great rest of the week!