|
| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 455 - Sept 19, 2012 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Breaking Out of Your Cage
|
|
|
|
When Steve Jobs took over the leadership reins of Pixar Studios he redesigned the entire physical space of the studio to ensure a maximum amount of interaction between people from different functions. He even insisted on centralizing the washrooms into a central atrium area to force chance encounters between employees as a way to boost creativity. Later, when Pixar struggled creatively with the making of Toy Story 2, they moved all the engineers, directors and storytellers into one small location, so that people would be forced to interact with each other in unexpected ways. Toy Story 2 went on to become a mega-hit for the studio.
In a similar vein, the social networking site Foursquare mixes up the seating arrangements of everyone at work from time to time (including even the CEO) to force people to work closely with different people. Not only does this help break down silos and improve communication, it boosts creativity. In fact, research into innovation and creativity suggests that possibly the single most important factor that contributes to innovation at work is the amount of cross-fertilization that happens between people with different perspectives on a common issue. |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
|
At your next brainstorming meeting, try a fun, frenetic, passionate round of "extreme-storming," where you take ideas to their maximum extreme, where you push the boundaries in outrageous ways to bust out of your mental cage. Not only does this add some fun energy into your meetings, it forces a change in perspective that might just lead to fantastic new ideas when you put on your "what-could-we-do-if-there-were-no-limits glasses". It can also remind you that, although consensus is at times an admirable goal, sometimes the best ideas are found on the extreme edges.
|
| |
|
Quote of the Week
|
|
"If you don't play with other people you get trapped in your
own cage." Keith Richards (yes, that Keith Richards) |
| |
|
It's a Wacky World |
| |
Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! So I dare you to answer just one call today like a pirate, or go for lunch with some colleagues and see how long everyone can keep the pirate chat alive, or better still, hold an entire meeting in pirate-ese! (I mean, it can't be any more silly than speaking in bureaucratese?)
Remember everyone. . . "To err is human, but to arr is pirate!" | |
|
|
|
Inspiring Savings
Cost-savings to bring Mike in to speak:
December 5-7 in Winnipeg;
April, 2013 in
South Africa.
Inspiring Reading
Teamwork, creativity and business advice from legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards?
Inspiring Watching
|
| | |
|
| |
|
Follow Humor at Work
|
|
|
| |
|
Copyright © 2012 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
| |
