Основатель “Nøgne Ø” покидает компанию

Основатель норвежской крафтовой пивоварни “Nøgne Ø” Kjetil Jikiun уходит из проекта, который сам организовал, и отдал ему лучшие годы жизни.

Сегодня рано утром Кьетил опубликовал пронзительное письмо:

The real world is all about money.

Anyone who ignores this is naive, stupid and have no future. Everything that over time is not profitable is dead. This is an axiom. Anyone who does not recognize this have few chances to succeed.

This is the basis for what follows. Do not forget it!

Ihad a dream…
I had a dream of changing the world. In a good way. With the best there is: Good beer. Good beer is a human right.

People need good beer. Good beer is about expectations. It is the total joy at the first sip. It is the frame around a good conversation. It is unsnobbish fraternization and the bridge- builder between people.

I wanted to give people good beer; in a country where only light lagers were available.

There were many things I did not understand, but two things were essential:

1. You cannot hold a good man down!
2. With true love, anything can be realized.

Iain Russell, who runs Charlies in Copenhagen and The Wharf in Aalborg, had an important message for us at the beer festival in Copenhagen in 2003: “You have to remember that you are making and selling beer. You are not selling earthmoving equipment! “

What did Iain mean by that? That craft beer is not just about beer. And it is not about business and transactions. No, craft beer is all about feelings. And people.

And I had a dream to change the world. Change the world by changing people. By moving them. People are not moved by the transactions. They are moved by feelings.

I had a dream of creating an organization in which everyone involved was proud and passionate. Totally overwhelmed by the love of and respect for good beer. Where feeling and commitment in itself would be recruiting and selling to people and customers.

I had a dream of creating an organization that glowed so much of everyone’s commitment so that all customers, restaurants, bars and shops would love to cooperate with us because we would be the most pleasant, would give the best service, would have most information and would be the best.

I had a dream of creating an organization where the beer would be in the center. And where the passion would be so strong that the term “good enough” could not exist. Because everyone would constantly concerned about how everything could be improved.

Not just beer.
But our service to customers.
And our knowledge.
And how we would communicate.
And how we would appear.
And how we would convince the world with our energy and charisma.
All this should make us different. And the best.

I had a dream of creating the perfect beer, conveyed to the world by the perfect organization, where only the best people would be working, where everyone would work towards the same goal.

I had a dream of creating a global brand. Powered ahead by the most ambitious team on our planet.

I had a dream to create something that was so different that the organization itself would be noticed and respected even far beyond the beer.

I had a dream to create something so unique that no one else could be perceived as real competitors. Simply because they would work in a regular ways and would be ordinary and average.

I had a dream of making all shareholders and employees rich. Not only rich in pride and joy, but also in terms of money and wealth. For so strong was my faith in the perfect organization and product, that it would also be a recipe for making money.

Once we were on our way. We were actually on our way to become everything I dreamed about!

But then somebody introduced some new values. Not through discussions, meetings or documents, but through agreements in small forums: by phone, or over the dinner table.

These were: Good Enough. Mediocre. Average. Normal. Common. Careful. Slow. Calm. Safe. Predictable.

This was a new phenomenon. To my amazement, these new values were applauded, and over a relatively short time, the original mindset was replaced.

Creativity was perceived as disturbance.
Dynamism was perceived as impatience.
Being different was perceived as a risk.
Perfectionism was perceived as a cost.
Compromise was seen as inflexibility.
Initiative was perceived as dangerous.

And I discovered that the dream I had, was no longer on track to be materialized.

What was supposed to be unique and the best was now on its way to becoming ordinary and mediocre.

Or put another way: Nøgne Ø The Uncompromising Brewery AS was changing into Grey Ø The Average Brewery AS.

My friends, Man’s most important and best tool is his conscience. It enables us all to navigate and maneuver right when we are in difficult situations. In this situation, I decided to listen to my conscience.

I could not work for other people to realize their dream, totally on opposite course with my own. I had to be loyal to my own dream and vision. And therefore we are here today: Towards a schism, where I leave Nøgne Ø. This will probably be good for ………… New Nøgne Ø.

My departure will lead get less noise and the management can sharpen its efforts to perfect Nøgne Ø to be the ordinary, calm, predictable and safe. Unlike current owners, board of directors and management, I do not think that this will lead to something good. Neither of products, people, or bottom line.

But because of my strong solidarity to those who are left in Nøgne Ø, I have to say that I hope that I’m wrong.

So what about my dream? Yes, I still have a dream. It is perhaps a little smaller than it used to be, but I refuse to be influenced by an average world.

I had a dream.
I still have a dream.
Without dreams the world stops.
I choose to continue to live out my dream!

Kjetil Jikiun

Если сказать вкратце, причин такого неожиданного решения оказалось несколько. Все они укладываются в понятие “что такое крафтовое пиво”. Главный смысл послания в том, что тот уникальный проект, который он когда-то задумал, раскрутился настолько, что стал чересчур глобальным.

То, что должно было стать уникальным и лучшим, теперь на пути к обычности и посредственности. “Бескомпромиссная пивоварня” (слоган Nøgne Ø) начала превращаться в серый массовый пивзавод, которым управляют маркетологи и совет директоров.

“Самым важным и лучшим качеством человека является совесть. Она позволяет всем нам ориентироваться и маневрировать, когда мы находимся в сложной ситуации.

В этой ситуации я решил послушать свою совест. Я должен быть предан своей собственной мечте. И поэтому мы сегодня здесь, на пути к расколу, где я оставляю Nøgne Ø.

Это, вероятно, будет хорошо для ………… “Нового Nøgne Ø”. В отличие от нынешних владельцев, совета директоров и руководства, я не думаю, что мой уход приведет к чему-то хорошему.

Но из-за моей солидарности с теми, кто остался в Nøgne Ø, я должен сказать, что я очень надеюсь, что ошибаюсь. Да, у меня всё еще есть мечта. Она, пожалуй, немного меньше, чем это было раньше, но я отказываюсь быть под влиянием усреднённого мира.

У меня есть мечта. У меня до сих пор есть мечта. Без мечты мир останавливается. Я выбираю продолжать жить своей мечтой!”

Итак, пятница 31 июля – последний рабочий день Кьетила Джикьюна на пивоварне Nøgne Ø. Кьетил – это человек, который действительно совершил “пивную революцию» в Норвегии, и не только в ней.

Со страстью, упрямством и оптимизмом он открыл для многих из нас вкусы имперских стаутов и различных хмелевых бомб.

Поэтому, друзья Nøgne Ø призывают всех любителей пива налить себе бокал хорошего пива Nøgne Ø в ближайшую пятницу, 31 июля, в честь Кьетила, и отправить ему мысленное пожелание удачи (как известно, он не читает соцсети).

По этому поводу на фейсбуке заведено мероприятие, которое пройдёт в сердце каждого из вас. Регистрируйтесь в нём, как участники. Там можно будет зачекинить то пиво, бокал с которым вы поднимете за Кьетила.

Что же касается дальнейших планов Мастера… подробностей пока никаких нет, но есть обещание, что мы узнаем об этом, когда придёт время.

Напомним, что пиво “Nøgne Ø” около года наз появилось в магазинах «Goodwine».

По материалам beerexpert.livejournal.com.

P.S. Смотрите также интересную историю этой крупнейшей крафтовой пивоварни Норвегии.