Back to the Books

I did a lot of reading, coursework and studying. My epiphany came in 1998.

I stumbled across an obscure branch of yoga called karma yoga – the yoga of work. Unlike other forms of yoga, you didn’t have to be flexible enough to bend yourself into a pretzel. But you did have to be flexible in your thinking and able to follow certain principles.

A key principle of karma yoga is selfless work. Karma yogis perform their work with the intention of serving others by giving their full effort, creativity, and generosity. Karma yoga philosophy also incorporates the virtues of honesty, concentration, beauty, excellence and courage.

Eureka. This is what had been missing at the Crocodile – a purpose that transcended monetary rewards.

It was now time for our little company to become part of something bigger than ourselves.

The sheer genius of karma yoga is that you do it while you work. Unlike other methods of self-improvement, there’s no need to set aside times for special practice. You see, karma yoga offers guidelines for developing effective work relationships.

After delving deeper into the philosophies of this new way of life, I was hooked. I decided to use karma yoga’s principles as the foundation for Crocodile’s operations as well as my personal life. This was the foundation that would dramatically change not only my life, but the lives of the people around me as well.

At first my wife thought I was out of my mind. She was not alone. Hell, everybody else felt the same way.

But I knew I had found the purpose that my work and life had been missing.

After endless soul searching, countless hours of studying, leadership courses, and the aid of fellow Crocs, Penn State professors, and my wise guru, Bob, the new purpose of the Crocodile began to take shape.

Quite simply, the Crocodile mission is…

To teach others how to create more productive, joyous, and inspirational workplaces.

What more noble profession could there ever be?

But all I really had was a vision of what I would like our business to become. I had no real plan. I had no “tool kit” to make this wonderful mission happen.

We needed a set of guiding principles. Guidelines that could tell us what to do (and what not to do).

AFTER COUNTLESS HOURS OF FURTHER RESEARCH, WE DEVELOPED A REVOLUTIONARY SET OF LIFE CHANGING PRINCIPLES TO HELP US CARRY OUT OUR NOBLE MISSION.