September 13, 2023

Ke Au Hou, Vol. 10

The headwaters of Honomanū Stream, Maui. Photo by Zach Pezzillo.

Imagine a work-world where every day your teammates ask one simple question, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

Hunger, as described by Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Ideal Team Player, refers to an individual's work ethic, drive, and determination to contribute to the team's success. It is a critical skill within great teams and something that we measure and grade at Maui Nui through a system we call, HHS (Humble, Hungry, Smart).

Here are four example questions from our HHS worksheet focused on measuring “Hunger”:

Do they consistently try or ask to do more than is required of them?
Do they come ready every day? Are they well-rested, alert, on time, and ready to excel?
Are they willing, eager, or volunteer to take on challenging, new, or inconvenient tasks to help the team?
Do they take personal responsibility for the team? Are they proactive in identifying problems and opportunities and do they take action? Do they act like an owner?

If you are new to our Newsletter and want more details on HHS check out Ke Au Hou Volume 7 and Volume 8, and stay tuned for Part IV - the final piece in our HHS series, which will go over “Smart” and include worksheets you can download and use with your team.

It’s a true privilege to be able to lead our team and to ensure our place of work is made up entirely of incredibly humble, hungry and smart people, something we have learned to measure and we have watched grow month in and month out.

Hope this helps in some small way.

Since the launch of Food & Wineʻs annual accolade, Game Changers, dozens of food and drink producers have been celebrated for their efforts and determination in helping us all to eat and drink more thoughtfully, more sustainably, and more deliciously.

As our work continues to be animated by a culture of innovation - both the innovation we encourage internally in our teams, and also the heritage of Hawaiʻiʻs continuum of agricultural genius - we are so honored to be recognized among this yearʻs culinary innovators.

Mahalo nui to Food & Wine for the recognition and to Kiki Aranita and Andee McKenzie for the wonderful write up! Read the full article here.

EAT ETHICALLY

In Hawaiʻi, it has long been said, “hahai no ka ua I ka ululāʻau,” that the rain follows the trees. Our ancient oral traditions are saturated with the names of deities who appear as mists and water forms encompassing ancient tree-covered regions, our stories laden with this affinity between forest and cloud.

Extensive ʻohana-tended loʻi kalo in the wetlands of Heʻeia, Oʻahu. Photo by Pekuna Hong.

Clouds forming on the ridges of the Koʻolau. Photo by Pekuna Hong.

Within the last decade, this age-old relationship, presently called cloud-seeding, is being explored by Western scientists. In 2016, in a European particle-physics lab near Geneva, physicist Jasper Kirkby and team founded the Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets (CLOUD) experiment to investigate the process by which trees emit compounds that form aerosols big enough to seed clouds. Their findings while upending pre-industrial climate guesses, come as no shock to Hawaiʻiʻs people - that the trees are, in fact, calling down the rain.

And then, in Hawaiʻi, our trees innovate even further. In a 2011 study of cloud water interception, the water storage capacity of Hawaiʻiʻs native trees, trees that have learned millennias-worth of lessons in this place, was found to be twice as great as that of introduced and invasive tree species, driving home the importance of native reforestation efforts, of helping to maintain and increase these genius trees across our paeʻāina, across Hawaiʻi.

As much as we are overjoyed to celebrate accolades for the innovations weʻve come to in over a decade of working with Axis deer here on Maui, it is also our joy to tell of these things - of the supreme genius of nature, of life fitted to place, and of all that can be learned through humility, through looking closely and in wonder.

As this is already our 10th Volume of what has been described as the longest Newsletter ever, we have archived Volumes 1-9 for anyone who might love some backstories and extra long-form content.

Ke Au Hou, Vol. 10

VIEW EARLIER VOLUMES HERE