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LOGBOOK
Got fun? YES! For us the work we do is fun - supporting leaders and working with groups - and our collaborative partnership is especially fun. Working together means we have a place to bounce wild ideas around, dream up new projects, pass writing back and forth, and indulge the 'geekie' parts of ourselves that love to do research and design. We laugh a lot, particularly when our similarities or patterns pop up. We believe in having fun at work and hope this newsletter will inspire you to cut loose, shake things up and have some, too.
Carol & Deb
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RESUPPLY
"Expect brain benefits from humor," states Dr. Ellen Weber. She says that laughter is also the best balancing elixir of the human brain, and yet still tops the missing-medicine-list in most workplaces. Does hilarity hail from your circles? If you've felt tensions flee in the wake of a simple joke, hooted over funny faux pas, or cut up over one-liners when least expected - you've likely also seen humor's upshot to the brain. Humor's especially effective when people laugh at themselves, in ways that lift morale, reduce tension or communicate differences in side-splitting style. Check out recent research on laughter's exilir effects as it ratchets up both emotional and mental health, and you'll likely set an agenda to bring more deliberate humor into your life and workplace.Have a laugh: Bert and I Story (6:34) Bob Marley: Camping with Parents (1:27) Tim Sample, Mr Coffee story (4:45)
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Scouting?
For more information,
please visit:
www.paddlingtherapids.com
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 Reading the waters
Name eight things that you love to do (right now). How can you translate elements of your list into a work context? What might your co-workers list include? While we know that work doesn't get done if people are out swimming or hiking, having fun at work not only restores our juices and builds connection and trust, but ultimately helps work get done. It also increases retention and satisfaction. When we have fun together, we see another side of people and we can be more fully ourselves at work.
Does your workplace have a culture that is playful? Leaders pay attention to organizational culture and can take action to increase the fun element (article: Questions and Answers About Fun at Work). How can you integrate having fun into daily rituals or surprise interactions?
Knowing that one person's fun may not jive with another's, consider the following ideas:
- have an ongoing Banagrams game going;
- create a nap room where people can take a cat nap;
- have a seven-minute party with music and dancing;
- learn to make Sushi as a staff;
- have a walk across the country contest (log miles);
- learn a magic trick at a meeting;
- start the day with a joke;
- Friday at 4PM initiate laugh fests; and
- read a good book together.
Let us know what you come up with. Have fun...
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Steering the Course
Join us on a free information call to learn how a Paddling the Rapids group can increase your leadership fun, support you and become a tool for navigating sustainability. We know that meeting with colleagues has many benefits: increasing vitality, breaking isolation, exchanging resources, building leadership muscle, defining values, celebrating successes and more. New Paddling the Rapids groups are being planned for executive directors, board chairs, managers, and emerging leaders. Groups are scheduled to start in Bangor and Portland as well as a new group near Kittery and in other areas. Want us to come to you? Join a call.
Curious? Hear our plans, ask your questions, and meet other leaders. Invite others you think would like to know about these opportunities by forwarding this newsletter. We will be hosting calls monthly.
The next calls are:
· Thursday, July 30, 4-4:45 PM; (518)-825-1300, use code 271884#
· Tuesday, August 4, 8:30-9:15 AM; (518)-825-1300,use code 271884#
Email us to reserve a line at info@paddlingtherapids.com
"It has made me realize that I'm not alone. It has given me the 'courage to lead'. It has validated my decisions/the decision-making process that I would normally make in a vacuum. It has increased my knowledge base/toolbox. It has given me a ready-made 'personal board of directors'." ~participant
Check out our website for more testimonials as well as a list of participating organizations.
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Navigation Tool
Write a six word memoir and post online. Stretching with words is fun and can add humor to the workplace. Garrison Keillor wrote this week in Writer's Almanac that there's a legend that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to create a six-word story and he responded, " For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Inspired by this, an online magazine invited readers to submit their own six-word memoirs, a collection of which was published by Harper Collins in 2008 as Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. Six-word memoirs include: " All I ever wanted was more" and " Moments of transcendence, intervals of yearning" and " They called. I answered. Wrong number." Everyone has a story. Can you tell yours in six words? Submit yours to be considered for SMITH's next six-word memoir book. The first book, Not Quite What I Was Planning, is out now. Past memoirs include:
I'm teaching my cat to talk; Hypochondria chased me all around town; Being a spectator is getting boring; Always suspected I wouldn't miss home.
What's your six word memoir?
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Guidebook
You are invited to the Paddling the Rapids Book Group kick-off. Join us on Thursday, July 23, 2-3:30, in-person, for a teleconference conversation with Robert Fritz, acclaimed author of The Path of Least Resistance, the second book in the Paddling Book Group. Fritz will talk about moving away from a problem-solving orientation through the principle of creative tension, and explain how you can apply his Nine Laws of Organizational Structure to build enterprises capable of true advancement and real, lasting success. "Robert Fritz . . . is without a doubt one of the most original thinkers today on the creative process in business, the arts, science, and life in general. His work has deeply impacted my life and the lives of many of my colleagues." -Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline Sign up for your free seat on July 23rd from 2-3:30 in Portland by RSVPing to Carol at 781-9816. Limiting seating available.
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