Your Escape Plan

There is so much we can learn from our kids (or kids in general if we don't have any).

Kids are naturally curious . . . which means they tap into their creativity more naturally and are rapid learners. Kids are more spontaneous and tend to find more ways to have more fun more of the time.

We of course were all once kids and so we had all of these capabilities. And everything I read says we still have these capabilities inside us, we have just misplaced the keys. (After all, how valuable is your car without the keys?)

Enter KimandJason.com whose tag line on their home page is: Escape Adulthood. Return to Childhood. If that line doesn't make you smile, there's no need to read on, because you don't get it. But I hope you will, because you need to get it.

Are Kim and Jason suggesting we ignore our adult responsibilities? I don't think so - and neither am I. What they want us to do is attack adultitis. And in their quest to annihilate adultitis, they created a 40 day Escape plan. This plan was designed as a challenge between Kim and Jason (they are married). Each day they created a challenge for themselves to do something to attack adultitis. (One really cool thing is that we as readers can vote with which of them we think did a better job that day based on their blog posts - how cool is that?)

These challenges are all fun and all relevant to all of us - even if on the surface it might not seem that way. How can you apply The Escape Plan?

1. Do it for yourself. Start with today as your day one and Spend at least 15 minutes immersing yourself in a field you know nothing about. (the Day 1 Challenge) . Using my New Learning Game could even be one way to do this challenge!
2. Do it with a partner - challenge each other in much the same way that Kim and Jason did.
3. Do it as a whole work group - and if you can't do one a day, do one a week- and you have a tremendous team-building activity for the rest of the year 52-7 = 45 weeks left, take out a few weeks for holidays and to get started and there you go!
4. Find specific challenges to use with a team or group. Wanting to build the creativity of a group? Find a challenge! Wanting a fresh new icebreaker for your next training session? Adapt one of the challenges.
5. Engage your Customers in these challenges. I won't give you the answer here - I challenge you to find a way to do it!
6. Follow the plan and then share your experiences and challenges with others through conversation, email or a blog. If you are a leader this will help others see you as a learner, a risk-taker and a human - something followers don't always think of their leaders as (unfortunately). If you are a parent, your kids will either think you are crazy, the coolest parent ever, or both (don't worry, they probably already think that - this will just be a confirmation).

Those are just a few ways I have thought of this morning. You will think of more.

My real advice is go to their site and do something.

Remind yourself of your kidhood and you will rediscover a valuable part of yourself that will not only make your life more satisfying and enjoyable, but make you more successful in everything you do.

Thanks to Phil Gerbyshak for pointing me to The Escape Plan and to Kim and Jason for challenging all of us.

Valentine's Day Ideas at Work

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.

You know, the day of dinners and diamonds. Roses and romance. Chocolate and well, more chocolate!

While there is nothing wrong with those views and customs for Valentine's Day, I want to propose a different view for you today - while you may still have time to do something about it.

Think about the Valentine's Days of your kidhood - those days before hormones. Remember that everyone gave everyone else a Valentine's card (even the people we didn't like)? Remember that while we may have had one person we secretly liked, the day was about everyone?

Fast forward to today. You work in an organization. You may lead others in one way or the other. With that as a context let me tell you three truths about adult Valentine's Days:

1. Some people have a Valentine and this is a great day for them.
2. Some people don't have a Valentine and because of that this is a rotten day for them.
3. All of us loved Valentine's Day as a kid.

So as a leader or part of an organization, how can you put those three facts to work for everyone's benefit?

It starts by re-defining Valentine's Day as being about love and caring, and not about romance. With that new definition, here are five things you can do tomorrow to celebrate Valentine's Day in your workplace.

1. Send your version of Valentine's cards - which could be some left-over Garfield ones from the store, or could be a simple note or red index card with a note of thanks and caring on them.
2. Invite the group to lunch. Let everyone go to lunch together, just for the fun and fellowship of it. You could pay the tab, but you sure don't have to. Just get people together - and use Valentine's Day as the "excuse."
3. Put a heart on everyone's door or cubicle wall and invite everyone to go by and write a note of appreciation to each other on the door. People can sign them or not, and if they don't want to be "caught" encourage them to write their notes on post-it's so they can post them and not spend so long writing in public!
4. Give everyone a bag of candy hearts or carrot sticks if they are more health conscious. Just like in school, it isn't about the size of the gift, it is about the sentiment. The small little bags will guarantee to elicit a smile and raise morale on Valentine's Day.
5. Do a white elephant gift exchange. You can tell everyone about it today - tell people not to buy something but to bring something from home, or even better, something from the workplace that they don't want - and exchange those "gifts" in a short afternoon meeting - there will be laughter and mirth and you will perhaps start a new Valentine's Day office tradition.

One more thing...

About half of you reading this are men and you may feel these ideas won't work for you. My advice? Get over yourself. The reasons for doing this if you are feeling this way are even bigger. Taking this perceived risk of being "mushy" or sentimental may have an even greater impact for both you and those who you share your actions with.

These are by no means the only things you could do - they are just some suggestions to get you started. If you try something else, I'd love to hear about it - so please email me or leave a comment to this post.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Participation Rules

If we are trying to build a better relationship with others, we need their participation.

Want to engage your Customers in your products and services? Get them involved in meaningful ways.

Want to create greater levels of success and productivity as a leader? Involve those you lead more fully.

Want to make the learning you are facilitating more lasting and relevant? Get the learners involved in both the planning and execution of the learning.

Want your team to feel more cohesive? Get everyone more involved.

It is a universal truth that we need to get people participating in actions, activities and decisions if we want greater levels of engagement.

It is because of this truth that I was enamored by a post called "The Next Sims" at B2Day blog.

This post talks about Spore, the next game by the creators of The Sims, that will come out in about a year. While I encourage you to read it for yourself, here is a relevant snippet...

For the longest time, games have been considered almost a new form of movie, but that ignores the really interesting opportunities we have in games. Games are in a unique position to bring content consumers into the role of creators.

In short, this game will engage participants in the creation of their own characters and worlds, and will allow players to eventually enter the worlds created by other players.

Not only does this participation make sense from the perspective of the players...but from the designers as well - they are now co-creators of the game with the players.

If the game keeps this universal truth of participation in mind, I believe it will be a runaway hit.