While in Austin, TX this past week, I had some time to kill and discovered the wonderful BookPeople store. While browsing through their business section, I stumbled across a gem called Joy at Work by Dennis Bakke. The subtitle is A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job (there’s that word ‘fun’ again).

What is most compelling about the book is Bakke’s vulnerability in talking about the ups and downs of trying to create a values-driven and profitable company where people are free to bring their full passion to their work. Simple on paper, quite the opposite in practice, particularly when your organization is a publicly traded energy company employing over 30,000 people. What I most appreciate is Bakke’s unwillingness to break from his guiding beliefs: that joyful work must be fun and challenging; that each employee – regardless of their position in the organization – must have the power to make important decisions; that a business’s prime objective should be to benefit society while continuing to pursue financial viability. And he had plenty of opportunities to deviate from these beliefs, particularly when his Board of Directors felt his ‘experiment’ was costing the company profits and neglecting the stockholders’s interests.

One of the big takeaways for me, so far, is Bakke’s reintroduction of the word opus. To me, opus is a cartoon penguin (see picture above) and a term used in classical music (though I did not know that opera is the plural form of opus). What is new for me is that opus is a latin word meaning work, especially work that is a voluntary act imbued with creativity and meaning. That’s powerful and certainly reflects that kind of work we all want to do in our lives.

Bakke continues to offer a spiritual perspective of work when we writes:

God intended that the workplace be beautiful, exciting, and satisfying. Work was to be filled with joy. Work was a major reason for our creation. It was intended to be an important act of worship. It was one of the most significant ways in which we could honor our Creator.

We are challenged to bring the sublimity of the opus into our lives rather than merely settle for the more mundane drudgery of labor. What can you do today to bring your opus to life?

Nope, workplace hazard prevention day isn’t for another few months. Actually the title doesn’t have much to do with this post…I just kinda wanted to use it

A couple of weeks ago, Kevin Holland at Associations Inc. blogged on a recent King of the Hill episode lampooning the workplace entertainment provided by Cold Stone Creamery. If you’ve never been to a Cold Stone, it’s a “customize your own ice cream” shop where the work staff break out into song when they receive a tip (or any other time if they feel like it). All of which I have to say is…great. Why not? I know when I go to my local Dairy Queen, I rarely get a “thanks” let alone a verse or two from Oklahoma.

But the real question that Kevin raises is about what constitutes fun in our work. Not so long ago during the dotcom boom days, fun was the active ingredient that separated the young turks from the old fogies. New, exuberant companies brought in foosball tables, pinball machines, cappuccino bars, and other things that made it a fun place to be. Now it seems that with the bust of those heady days, the pendulum is swinging back to a strict focus on the bottom line and getting results. It’s as if an indictment has been passed that playing air hockey at 3pm rather than bad business decisions contributed to the demise of these companies.

Let’s take another look at fun and its interaction with the concept of play. I wager one of the central issues here is that fun is viewed as frivolous and childish and lead to a general lack of seriousness in a world that takes itself a bit too seriously. And perhaps there is a general fear that if our staff is playing, they’re definitely not working.

As Kevin mentions, fun is a relative term so let me offer an individual perspective and then bring play into the mix. I believe fun is an extraneous concept, and yet, not one to be dismissed entirely. Fun is creating an environment where staff can be celebrated as people, not mere workers. Bring on the birthday cakes, allow for laughter over a lunchtime game of parcheesi, have a beer or coffee afterhours. Each of us brings various levels of intrigue and complexity to the workplace…to assume that we are only here to just do a job and go home may not fully express that depth of character. After all, we are social beings who are eager to relate with others.

If we view fun as a cultural activity residing outside of the standard operations of work, I submit that play is an integrative activity. Play is a rich toolset that allows individuals and groups to bring out their best creative efforts, effectively pool their talents, and focus their energy on challenges. It’s a way of looking at the same old things differently. It’s a powerful method of altering perceptions and unteathering ourselves from conventional thinking. And, unfortunately, it’s a workplace characteristic that is sadly underutilized due to some of the stigmas mentioned earlier.

Final thoughts…Be judicious with fun and don’t overdo it or else you end up just Managing by Serving Cake (Nice, Kevin). Find a way to blend our oft-forgotten humanness into the daily work which can have its own set of rewards. But, be liberal with play and use it whenever possible. Find a way to integrate it into as many processes as you can. Business doesn’t have to be a somber activity. With a little fun and a lot of play, it might just liberate our best work.

Yep, the Bailey clan is moving to the Lone Star State. Austin, to be particular. After nearly a decade in Washington DC, we say “adios” to the area (as well as gridlocked traffic, long commutes, skyhigh real estate, etc., etc.) toward the end of July.

I guess you could say that this was a long time coming, really. Caroline and I have been talking for a while about getting out and finding new adventure somewhere else. We both had a feeling that we were getting stuck here and falling into complacency with surroundings and a lifestyle that didn’t light our fire. We considered places like Minneapolis, Charlotte, Seattle…even Toronto. What we were searching for was a slower pace of life, friendliness of neighbors, lots of culture and character, and a place where we could enjoy the outdoors. It seems like we found these qualities in Austin.

And with any adventure, there’s some risk involved (or else it wouldn’t actually be an adventure, eh?). Neither of us have work waiting for us which is a slightly scary prospect for someone who knows how hard it can be to be jobless. To tackle that problem, I’m making a couple of recon trips to meet with potential employers. My first will be next week (May 10 – 14) so if you’re in the area and would like to meet, let me know.

Right now, the plan is to sell our house so we’re busy it ready to market. This is a lot of work and fortunately we’ve found lots of folks to help. We hired a professional organizer to help us pack up our non-essential items and get rid of our clutter. We hired a painter to redo all the interior walls. And we’re considering whether to lay new carpet or not. Last weekend, I spent a great deal of time on the outside of the house and in the yard. This weekend, I anticipate doing some more yardwork and sprucing up some tired looking shrubbery.

I continue to have great visions for Bailey WorkPlay and the Alchemy of Soulful Work. I hope you’ll continue to check in and follow along as we intrepid pioneers hitch up our wagon and migrate to the Texas Hill Country. If there’s one thing I can share as I look forward to this next chapter in life, it’s that life is far too short and precious to wait around. I know I don’t want this to describe me:
“Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.”
-Robert Anthony

One of the joys of introducing or reaquainting your child to your job and workplace is that you get to see it through their eyes. Often, they ask very simple questions that bust through our semi-conscious thinking and challenge those ideas that we just take for granted. And then, they add some much needed fun to what might normally be staid chores. Here are some of the things that Leah and I experienced together yesterday.

Some questions…

When is your lunch period over? I didn’t quite understand Leah’s initial questions about lunch and lunchtime until I probed a bit further. And then, the connection was made: kids in school have a very structured day. The lunch period is always at the same time and lasts for the same period of time…usually about 30 minutes. If you’re still eating or have a good chat with your friends and the teacher says “Lunch is over now,” then it’s time to go. It seemed pleasantly surprising for Leah when I answered, “Whenever we want it to be.” I did explain that I needed to be back in the office for a mid-afternoon meeting, but we had the freedom to decide how we spent our lunchtime period.

Do you have a substitute boss today? This question was really interesting and quite alarming. Our CEO is in Florida this week for a leadership training. When I told Leah that my boss was not in the office, she looked puzzled and wondered who would tell me what I needed to do. I replied that in our office, we all know our responsibilities and plan our work together. And no one needs to be here to supervise us to make sure we do our work and don’t create trouble. For Leah, I think she found it curious that I didn’t have someone telling me what to do, when to do it, and how to do it all the time.

Which raises for me several deeply troubling problems with our schools and mainstream pedagogical philosophy. I guess I always had problems with school when I was at that age and revisiting them as an adult and parent has reinforced my thinking that we can do better for our kids…but I wonder whether certain parts of our culture share this thinking. If we help our kids be more critical thinkers, what would happen to some of the current foundations of business and governance? Critical thinkers mean less compliant shoppers who want to know where their food comes from. Critical thinkers mean less “obedient” workers who do exactly what their organization demands. Critical thinkers mean less willing participants in a political system that encourages ever narrowing viewpoints. What if we helped our children see through the flimsy messages offered by pop media and experience a richer life?

Some cool things…

Watching mail go down the indoor mail chute. I’ve been told that many older office buildings have filled their old-timey mail chutes in due to them being fire hazards. Our building still has one and we’re on the 11th floor. Leah thought it would be cool to go halfway down and watch the mail fall through the glass enclosed chute. So we went down to the 6th floor and watched as our financial manager dropped some envelopes (containing all important bill payments). Man, those suckers moved fast as gravity took hold.

Leah also learned how to use a copier and a postage machine. And not just use, but learn how it all works. Our copier is very powerful and also very prone to misfeeds. So, we took it apart to get to the midfed paper.

She also got a peek at my daily commute which isn’t anything to cheer about. It’s long and she noted that if she had to do that every day, she would be unhappy. Which all begs for another blog post coming very soon.

If anyone else took a child to work with them yesterday, what was your experience? What did the child learn…and what did you learn?

I’ve been meditating on a particular prayer that prefaces a sermon written by Davidson Loehr, a Unitarian Universalist minister in Austin, Texas. Through this prayer, I’m facing off with that great demon known to us as Playing-It-Safe. Davidson writes:

If we must fail, let us fail at high endeavors. Let us not fail to be mediocre when we could instead fail to be absolutely brilliant. Let us not fall short of being moderately compassionate. Let us rather fall short of being fully compassionate.Of all our failures in life, perhaps the saddest are those in which we failed even to try and serve the highest and noblest ideals.

It is a sin to fail at low aims. Not because we failed, but because we aimed too low.

But it is not a sin to fail at very high aims, like aiming for truth, justice, compassion and character. Because even our failure puts us into the company of the saints, the company of those who also believe that rising to our full humanity and rising to our full divinity may be the same rising.

Striving after low and mean ends is a boring sin, not worthy of us. Let us have greater ambition for our failures. Let us vow never to fail at anything that wasn’t noble and proud, never to settle for lower aspirations for ourselves, our lives, our country or our world.

We will all fail at some things. But let it not be a failure of vision, a failure of aspiration. If we must fail, let us fail at high endeavors, and then let our failures bless us – for they will.

Amen.

You can read the full sermon here.

The passionate idea of working toward great and noble ambitions in our lives offers both comfort and strength. When put into this context, we are free to set our mind and body toward the light we want to create. Even failure cannot touch us or our soul.

I think this prayer ties into Curt Rosengren’s recent post on an interdependence of dreams and actions. When we gather the courage to dream big things and then take action to follow our heart’s calling, we move beyond the small ideas of success and failure. These are often inaccurately measured based on someone else’s notion of the world. Instead, we journey on a path which is uniquely our own…where the endpoint is uncertain, but clearly a paradoxical place of excitement and solace.

Extended Play (04/23/06): My friend Garth at exploreplay has a great quote from Jon Krakauer’s book Into The Wild which really accentuates the power of following your sense of adventure. It starts: “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism…” Visit exploreplay for the rest of the quote…you’ll be glad you did.

See, here’s the thing…most of us take great pride in creating an interesting, provocative, web experience through our blogs. But, if you only get your blog content from a newsreader, you miss the whole experience. It’s kinda like listening to your favorite band on AM radio…the sound is there, but it’s less than an optimal experience when you could listen to them live.

Case in point…I read Patti Digh’s 37 Days blog and it’s just fabulous. But I usually read it from my Rojo newsreader. So, today I go and read her latest post and it hits me that her content is just one aspect of the total 37 Days experience. The content might be the most important, but there’s other neat things to find there as well. The whole site personifies her whimsical and deeply soulful view of the world. I liked her mystery carrot award so much I gave myself one.

Guess all of this builds into a somwhat frustrating and confounding observation I have with blogging and blogreading. I’m thankful to have folks like you who read the stuff that tumbles out of my brain. And I’m inviting you to take a deeper look at my blog and the rest of Bailey WorkPlay if all you’ve ever experienced is through your Bloglines or other RSS reader.

And don’t start and end with just me…make an effort to actually visit the blogsites of people who you find fascinating. And let them know what you like. As blogging is a personal pursuit for all of us who take it playfully serious, it’s always nice to know that you’re loved not only for the content of your mind, but for your body as well.

Wil Wheaton has an ant farm and it’s super cool. You’re probably asking how ‘ant farm’ and ‘super cool’ interact in the same sentence. Well, take a look at his post for today, i call the big one bitey (which is itself a funny riff on a Simpsons one-liner).

Need further proof? Seriously…check out his Flickr photos. Time to introduce the many splendors of our workaholic and very social insect cousins to my two girls.

Dave Gray at Communication Nation is conducting an experiment in facilitating an asynchonous conversation with Maish R. Nichani who writes the elearningpost blog. I’ve seen just a couple of attempts at creating an open, evolving dialogue like this on other blogs so it will be interesting to see what happens.

What’s particularly interesting are some of the initial comments from Maish about our learned lack of comfort with being uncomfortable. As someone with children just entering the U.S. educational system, his thoughts run parallel to my own – we either need to worrk to change the system (which is an uphill battle and frought with much despair) or change the way we help our kids (which is something specific that all parents have the power to do). Here’s Maish’s thoughts:

It’s one thing to be out of touch, it’s totally another to do something about it. In this day and age, success, I think, comes to those who are comfortable being uncomfortable or those who deliberately practice being uncomfortable. But many of us shy way from being out of touch. A few days ago I had a chat with a friend who runs creativity courses here and he signaled out the education system as the reason for this passive shyness. Right from the start we are told to draw on the lines and color inside the boxes and this conformity mindset has molded us into being passive receivers. But thanks to the Internet, there is hope.

So, let’s encourage our kids to draw outside the lines, wear clothes that don’t match, make messes, make mistakes, think really big things. Build their confidence to be active generators rather than mere passive receivers. And continue to listen and encourage them when an old, industrial-era teacher comes along to squash these better qualities. Because it will happen at some point either as a kid or as an adult. Creativity is an act of open disobedience against the norms. Creativity is an act of courage

Well, for me at least. I’ve been stopped cold in my tracks today by two deeply probing questions offered by Dick Richards at Come Gather Round:

• For what has my life been preparing me?
• What kind of me is my work creating?

I need to reflect on the first question because I’m wandering now and not in the good kind of way. After a recent foray in the world of self-employment (and later unemployment), I am most thankful to have stable work that pays…but true to my self and my beliefs that is simply not enough. I’m seeking to rediscover my own soulful work because I am not sure that I’m doing it right now.

Which leads to the issues surrounding the second question. I might even reframe it: Do I really like who I am when I do my current work? I have a feeling that the answer may be hard to confront. But I know that my heart is telling me that its time to reconnect with it; it’s been patiently calling me for some time.

Which reminds me…I need to make sure that I read Dick’s book, Is Your Genius at Work?, very soon.

I tend to have some interesting phobias, but they’re probably not uncommon to those experienced by other folks. For most of my life, I’ve been afraid of spiders. Here’s where it gets interesting…not all spiders. For instance, I really like tarantulas. I guess its because they’re kind of like giant fuzzy caterpillars (you know, the brown and black kind that you commonly find crawling up trees and along porch rails) only with eight big legs. And I love Spider-Man. On the other hand, I can’t stand the ones with long spindly legs like black widows and argiopes. I find them fascinating, but the thought of having one touch me sends a cold shiver running through my body.

Another phobia that I seem to have is linked to small, tight spaces. I remember my one time doing some cave exploration in high school, I found myself in a confined area trying to squeeze through and all I could think was “what if I get through, but can’t get back out?” Well, that was my last spelunking adventure.

[An aside...as I get older, I realize that many of my fears are irrational and the quickest (but definitely not easiest) way to overcome them is to confront them head on. Perhaps there's more there for me to consider. Okay, back to the original point]

This weekend is a holiday for the U.S. Federal Goverment which means my organization offers a three day weekend. And my wife decided to take the girls to visit her parents in Southern Virginia. This left me alone in my home for the first time in quite a while, and it has been a wonderful time. It’s not so much the quiet as it is the isolation that has been rewarding. The past two days have allowed me the chance to review all that has been going on in my life the past few months, to realize that the critical problems I’ve been facing at work are not insurmountable, to reorient myself back toward my north star – the very philosophy that defines how I choose to bring myself to my work and my life.

I realize now that I had been suffering a type of psychic claustrophobia where problems at work and home had closed in on me leaving me constricted and struggling for breath. I desperately sought an exit. Little did I know how simple the solution could be. For me, it was some temporary freedom from many of my other roles: father, husband, manager.

This is what works for me. If you’re finding that nothing seems to be fitting into place like it once did, perhaps its time for a retreat of your own. We each have a different breaking point and a different idea for retreat. And it won’t permanently solve the problem. In retreat, there’s work that must still be done. It might not be isolation that’s needed, but time with a good friend. Whatever it is, be good to yourself and find what your mind, body, and soul need.