Company Culture
Parallel to the steady growth of company assets and profits, and not accidentally, associates of The Fountains also reached new heights both personally and professionally. Freshwater early on embraced a way of doing business called Management By Design, which recognizes that people and their commitments, more than board room decisions, move a company forward.

One of the many premises of Management by Design is that you can’t manage people, you can only manage their commitments, and without making and keeping big commitments to ourselves and to each other, we can not make purposeful forward progress.

This business philosophy, as always modeled by David, was deeply rooted within
the Fountains organization. People understood what was expected
of them and what they could expect of others. The resulting culture,
both intimate and powerful, more than anything else, fueled the
success of The Fountains.

To reinforce, deepen and celebrate this culture of empowerment and success, Fountains leaders convened annually for adventure-filled retreats at which the ending of one year and the beginning of the next were ceremoniously marked, new courses were established, and a great group of people who worked very hard all year long had a lot of fun together. Awards and acknowledgment were also always integral to the culture, with programs like Partnering, Keys to Success, Weekly on the Move, Five-Tier Accreditation, and more. While buildings and companies can be bought and sold, a culture can only be created, and the Freshwater Group
is masterful at doing just that.