Golden State Warriors on fun

Here's an comment from Mark Jackson, Coach of the Golden State Warriors basketball team and from one of his players:

And that's what Jackson is after. He wants his team to get back to playing freely and having fun - the characteristics that allowed the Warriors to overachieve last season.

"We're pressing, we're worrying about this and worrying about that, but we're at our best when we're just having fun," Green said. "Of course, any time expectations rise, you're human. You're going to know it, and you're going to react to it. But no one expects more out of us than we expect out of us."

See: http://www.sfchronicle.com/warriors/article/Warriors-hope-for-boost-in-energy-enthusiasm-5216046.php  (You may have to be subscriber to SFChronicle.com to get full access.)

Now when it comes to high-stakes stress and anxiety professional sports rate pretty highly. And yet, even in this environment, there is the understanding that having fun while being ferociously competitive can be a good thing. How does your organization, team, etc., seek out and encourage random acts of fun?

Sun flips poles: What are you flipping to celebrate?

Big news: The Sun has flipped upside down and reversed magnetic poles (http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Sun_flips_upside_down_while_reversing_magnetic_poles_999.html), Hokey-smokey.

So, what are you doing to celebrate/commemorate this event? Wear flip flops? Flip up/down sunglasses? Flip your lid? Flip a burger? Walk on your hands (a form of flipping)? Flip flop a position? Watch back episodes of Flipper? Here's a chance for cosmic creativity!

Good luck!

Spring Training

I love baseball and when I lived in Chicago the beginning of spring meant the beginning of spring; or perhaps just the slight diminishing of winter; or the promise of the former and the frustration with the latter!

In any event, mid-February was a key date because that is when baseball teams reported to exotic locations such as Florida and Arizona to work out the kinks, hone their skills, and prepare for the upcoming season.

And here we are. It is February and baseball teams are following the rituals of the season.

My question?Why don't organizations do this too?

It wouldn't be hard to imagine a series of in-house (with appropriate warm climate posters) or out-of-doors activities (where the weather is nice) to review personal and team goals for the year; work on those skills you wanted to improve on; (re)consider your primary customer, client, etc., and how you are providing service to them; and at the end, on, say March 21, have a solstice party to celebrate the end of spring training and the return to full-time work. Also the official beginning of Spring.

So, batter up and work on the double-play, the bunt, the relay throw and whatever might help your team be more successful.