The Pen is Mightier...

True story: this past weekend my friend Joe hosted a little soiree at his home, and several friends and co-workers were invited. Over the course of the evening, somehow a conversation about homebrew morphed into talk about handmade wooden tap handles. At this point in the conversation (...and I promise, soon this will relate to recognition...), Joe disappeared momentarily and when he returned he held in his hand a finely crafted wooden roller pen accented with gold.

Joe says, "If you're looking for a good woodworker, you should talk to my line manager.

"When we rolled out our last project, to celebrate the accomplishment he made each of us on the team one of these pens. We each got to pick out the piece of wood that our pen would be made from."

Joe passed his pen around, and each of us "ooh'd" and "ahhh'd" over it and secretly coveted it. "See, mine has this wormhole that make it unique," Joe says.

So, what can we learn from Joe's weekend party? Here it is: Joe's manager did a remarkable job of giving his team members recognition for their work through this treasured memento of their blood and sweat that they gave to the project.

Not to wax too sentimental here, but that homemade pen is possibly the perfect award, and it's what so many of us at Terryberry give our blood and sweat to every day. To capture the shared vision of a group of people working together toward something big, and to crystalize it into a personal and memorable symbol that recipients will remember for years to come.