Fun itself hasn’t changed — the nature of work has changed and will continue to change.
But fun is fun, as much fun now as it was then.
Forever.”

— Bernard DeKoven, “The Playful Path”

A Playful Path is the shortest road to happiness.

— the Oaqui

I love stories with happy endings. We seem to have too many life stories whose ending aren’t happy. This is one of those stories with a happy ending.

I have been known to say, “Life isn’t easy, nor is it fair. Yet, it is our life to create.” I tend not to dwell on the ‘isn’t easy or fair’ part but just try to put it right and continue down the road. I even embrace challenges as learnings. It is my default mode and has contributed to my optimistic attitude for life and work. I am grateful for this countenance.

I would prefer to be a cup-half-full kinda gal instead of a cup-half-empty. I researched this choice for a year and found that optimists live longer, have more friendships, better health outcomes, more career success, and are more effective in most situations. I think I will stick with my positive approach to life.

As a child, it was my way of coping. I don’t know where I learned it. As an adult it is a conscientious choice every day.

One day someone said to me, “The better question is, ‘What is in your cup?’ and ‘Should you put it down for a while and rest?’” Wow! That statement changed my perspective.

I know. This is a long introduction to my story with a happy ending. I’m getting to it.

I shared with you my idea to use the duvet cover and comforter as a team-building activity. And so, I did.

Both parts of the bedding were put into the laundry, folded into a big garbage bag, and transported to a meeting of peer learners who gather each month to learn, share, and support each other. I was assigned the team building activity to facilitate. My facilitation partner Sarah would be guiding us afterward through an evening of learning about Emotional Intelligence.

Sarah laughed when she asked me what I would be bringing. She is a very inventive and open-minded person whom I love to work with, but my household teambuilding idea surprised even Sarah.

The gathering of enlightened leaders/managers from different industries did not laugh when I shared the instructions to open the bag and discover a feather comforter and Swedish duvet cover of unmatched sizes — that are freshly laundered and still a little damp — that needed to be prepared for the bed. I set a time limit of 20 minutes, asked that they involve everyone, and hoped that an argument would not result (as it had every time, I tried to do it with another person).

The group of seven jumped right in. Their personality styles for planning showed up immediately. Some just started in on the project. Some reflected quietly. Each had their hands on the materials. They pulled two tables together to lay the pieces flat. Laughed about the dampness and shared ideas for the approach.

After several first steps, a member of the group asked if she could share an observation. Everyone stopped to listen to her idea. She suggested that they turn the duvet cover inside out to match the corners of the comforter and pull it down as it turned outside in. They paused, considered the idea, and immediately changed course. When they did something that never occurred to me, they discovered little ties on the inside of the duvet cover and little eyelet holes on the comforter. Oh, my goodness gracious! A better solution for my weekend tango-tangle with the comforter will be forever changed.

After that wise reset, the comforter process moved very quickly and many hands made it easy work. With almost five minutes to spare, a perfectly flat comforter with its duvet cover lay on the tables. The zipper that I could never close was perfectly zipped, the wrinkles smoothed, and the lumps removed. I could hardly wait to take it home and put it on the bed.

There is more goodness to this story. When you facilitate a team-building activity, the debrief is as important as the activity. I asked the group about their planning process, communication approaches, ideation, personal styles, roles, and takeaways. Each person shared a meaningful observation and a personal application. I love, love, love this kind of deductive learning. I too learn from every group I lead.

My wish is that as we return to working face-to-face — and meet new teammates who joined our organizations during the remote time — that we take the time to get to know each other, create relationships, practice team-building in fun ways, and celebrate the great strengths and contributions we each bring to our work and working relationships.

The happy ending to this story is

• A happy duvet and comforter
• A team of individuals who understand the foundation of their strengths
• A fun experience, and
• An evening of learning together.

What fun are you going to create in lighting up your team?

Making simple fun.

Leslie

“You can only have fun helping other people have fun
if you’re having fun doing it.”

— the Oaqui