More Willow Creek Summit

I left you with the question "How are people most motivated at work?"

According to Daniel Pink there was a very large study done which found that the single largest factor for people feeling motivated is.. when they're making progress.  Isn't that simple?  And yet, doesn't it ring true?  I know that when I feel like I've progressed on a project, I feel like I've had a good day.

So then, the lesson becomes - as a supervisor, how do I help my folks to feel like they're making progress?  I do it by building in celebrations of milemarkers as projects progress (even if I have to create the milemarkers).  And I do it by creating more opportunities for feedback.  Pink questioned the import of an annual review, asking "What if Serena Williams only got feedback once a year?"  We have to build specific goals into our projects so that we can periodically measure our progress.

I wrote about progress on projects, but the lessons apply also to progress on personal development.

Is this interesting to normal people, or is it just me?

Vacation: Part 4

(yes - still skipping Part 2)

I used two of my precious vacation days to attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit with Joseph.  I was doubting whether that was a good investment of my days, but WOW it was a great conference.  Enjoyed the time with Joseph.  Received lots of challenges, encouragement & ideas.

One example.... Daniel Pink talked about the concept of a "FedEx Day".  That's where once a quarter, employees are given a whole Thursday to work on anything they want, not related to their normal job.  Then, they have to present what they did to their team on Friday (overnight, thus "FedEx").  Doesn't that sound like an easy way to stimulate creativity in the office?  Pink said, I think, that google has a rule that 20% of an employee's time can be spent working on whatever they want.  With google retaining the license to whatever creative ideas develop, of course.  He said that google news and gmail were both the result of 20% time.  I can't wait to demo a bit of this concept at my work.

Oh - I'll leave you with a question from Pink's presentation.  He asked, "How are people best motivated at work?"  What do you think?

10 Years

I was the victim recipient of a surprise party this week.  My coworkers celebrated my 10-year anniversary at work!

They did all kinds of things I'd like - gave the party an international theme; served my favorite foods; made me a music cd (with everything from Haitian worship music to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" [how awesome is that]); sent me on "Heidi Seek" (a hide-n-seek hot/cold game to find my favorite things.. including a gift-wrapped avocado); and played fun games. 

One game was a scavenger hunt and a question was: "How many photos of G are in the office (counting the collage as one)?"  The answer was 14.. and I only have 3 in my office!  Diane said, "I went around & counted 12 last night.. and then Sharon put up 2 new ones this morning."  How sweet are my friends?

Another game was identifying the countries of the flags hung around the room.  I rocked it out on that one.  Knowing Haiti & Jamaica worked in my favor, but I really need to brush up on the flags of the middle east.  :)

Some fascinating trivia: When I was young, I liked to peruse the Encyclopedia's flag section, and draw copies of the different flags.  I admitted that to our group, and my co-worker then admitted that she used to read the Encyclopedia and write reports about animals - during her summer vacation!  How about you.. any other Encyclopedia freaks out there? 

Another game was a mad lib... designed around my life at work in the year 2020.  Good news: I'm going to be married to a German chef!  And have 16 Haitian children!  Love to laugh.  Fun to celebrate.