Last week, in true OSM style, part of the management team met for three days, far from the offices, the daily urgencies, and the routines that, unintentionally, sometimes limit our vision. Not for team building, but to truly understand—together—what we want to become in the coming years and how to best support our clients' growth.
The premise was good, but the actual experience was even better. Berlin proved to be much more than a business trip or a brainstorming session: it was an opportunity to look each other in the eye, gauge our collective strength, and take responsibility for the future we want to build, for OSM and for the people we serve every day.
In the cold of November, between bricks to break, puzzles to put back together, and walls to fill with color, we experienced firsthand what it means to become a group that consciously chooses to grow together.
Building Blocks: Recognizing and Breaking Down Small Barriers
We started with a handful of small bricks in front of each of us. They weren't just objects. They represented those micro-barriers that become walls in everyday life: small fears, subtle doubts, rigidities, habits that hold us back, convenient excuses that postpone what matters.
We broke them down, one after another. Carefully, decisively, with an almost physical concentration. And that gesture sent a clear message: if we want OSM to continue growing, the first walls we must tear down are the ones we build ourselves.
It wasn't a symbolic exercise. It was a declaration of responsibility: "From now on, I won't hide behind my bricks."
The puzzle: many identities that create a single direction
Then we rebuilt it. A giant puzzle, a thousand different pieces: shapes, colors, identities. Each person committed to putting together more pieces, because each of us brings many souls to OSM: skills, sensitivities, experiences, roles.
As the image formed, it became clear that it wasn't just the end of an exercise. It was the concrete representation of who we are when all parties recognize each other as elements of a common vision.
At the center was a phrase that wasn't a slogan, but a daily commitment: "Together we are unstoppable. Together we create the future."
The urban art experience: putting into color what we are
The day with the Source: Urban Artists team took us even deeper. Spray cans, biting cold, icy hands, and a meticulous attention to detail in erasing, redrawing, choosing words, and placing symbols.
Words that speak volumes about us have appeared on those walls: growth, responsibility, presence, impact, future. Not abstract concepts, but the visual translation of what we want to represent for the businesses we serve.
There was also a personal moment that I carry with me: a gift and a special dedication, which I won't share in detail, but which I cherish as a reminder of the value of the people who walk beside us. Some words, if they remain with those who live them, don't lose their power: they multiply it.
The connection with the customer survey: when the data confirms the direction
A few days after returning, I calmly reread the executive summary of a survey administered last September to one hundred of our clients. I was struck by a simple yet powerful fact: in many of their responses, I found, almost word for word, what we experienced in Berlin.
Clients ask us for greater organization, greater presence, greater clarity in processes, more internal collaboration, more shared responsibility, and more genuine listening. These are the same themes that emerged as we broke down the bricks, put the puzzle back together, and brought our identity to the walls of urban art.
The survey was conducted in September. Berlin in November. Yet the two voices seem to be part of the same story: that of an organization that listens to its market and, at the same time, chooses to take risks to live up to its promises.
The role of people: the true strength of OSM
The most important part of this experience was not the format of the activities, but what each person brought: courage, insight, sincere questions, a willingness to listen and be listened to.
You agreed to break something, first inside and then outside, to create space for a different level of collaboration and responsibility. It's not "OSM" as a brand that has strength in itself: OSM is strong when the people who are part of it choose to be strong together.
Beyond Berlin: Now the real journey begins
This is why I see Berlin not as an isolated moment, but as a beginning. In the coming months, projects, initiatives, and operational decisions will take shape, born directly from what we experienced there: greater integration between areas, greater consistency between promise and delivery, greater presence in the field, more structured tools to help our clients grow.
The most encouraging thing is that many of the "remedies" suggested by the survey coincide with the directions we've chosen as a joint commitment. We're not adding superstructures. We're aligning what we feel is right for us with what customers are asking of us.
Looking back on those days, the common thread is clear: we broke down barriers, reconstructed a larger image of ourselves, and made a clear statement that we want to rise to the challenges of the coming years. Not out of abstract ambition, but out of responsibility to the people who rely on us.
Berlin reminded us that the future doesn't happen alone. It's created. And when created together, it becomes much stronger, more real, and bigger than each of us.
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