How to solve all of your problems using a playground

When in Doubt, Go to the Playground

Phillia (see my post from 2013 for Phillia's intro: Phillia Post) would show up everyday to the office and did the same thing every morning.

He gets his coffee, turns on his computer, says hello to a few colleagues and then sits at his desk. It usually takes five minutes for him to look at his list of tasks and then freak out and walk over to my desk to chat and make some sort of nervous small talk.

I asked one day about his to do list and why he let it freak him out. He showed it to me...what a train wreck! I quickly came up with a solution for him (a stolen solution from Franklin Covey of course). List everything in order of importance. Gut the shit that doesn't absolutely have to be done today. Delegate what you can. Break down the big tasks into smaller pieces. Re order the list. Then start at the top and go from there.

Decide what is important first

Easy, right? Simple you say? Yes, it can be if you recall how much pleasure one gets from keeping it simple.

I think about my kids playing on the little playground in the park we live in. When it is just the two of them out there they are having the time of their little lives. Running around the structure, walking along the wooden border, going up the slide backwards.

And they love it because it's easy and simple, it's pure. It's when three more kids show up that it gets complicated. When two people want to use the slide at the same time. When someone is throwing acorns and someone else doesn't like that. When someone is loud and screaming and another kid gets scared.

Lack of resources leads to conflict

So what do we as adults do in this situation. usually one of two things: we either remove our child from the situation (here Johnny, come play over here with this. Isn't this fun?). Or we try to mediate the issue at hand (Now Johnny, it's not nice to throw acorns at someone. You might hurt them.)

Our issues as adults, whether in the personal or professional world are not much different when you think about them. We have a limited number of resources available to us: budgets, time, peoples' attention, housing, water, that new iPhone that was just released. It's when those resources get scarce or we are in competition for them that conflict arises. I would suggest that remembering the basic rules of the playground might help most of us as adults in resolving these conflicts. For a simple reminder here is a list of the common playground rules in my little part of the universe:

• If it's not yours don't touch it
• Share with others
• Keep your hands to yourself
• Don't pick on the other kids
• Use the playground at your own risk
• Have an adult with you if you are too young
• Stick to age appropriate play elements
• Don't booze and play
• Wear proper footwear

When in doubt

What would happen if you posted that list in your office? Would it stick? Would it matter? Would people actually pay attention and get it?

Maybe at some point I'll actually get into how to promote an ethic of play in your work environment, but for now this is good enough. Just remember, all afternoon should be for leisure and play according to Thomas Jefferson, or was it Ben Franklin?

Either way, go play. Be nice. Share. And when in doubt go down the slide backwards and trust your gut. In the end it's only a slide and you are only playing.

Why should we take the time to be better networkers?

So Why Should You Network? 

The other week I was lucky enough to be sent to Wheeling, West Virginia to join the National Recreation and Park Associations' Revenue Development and Management School. It was generally accepted by the group that at least a portion of the week long seminar was intended for networking and getting to know other successful professionals in the Parks and Recreation industry.

This of course made me think about whether or not the people that paid for us to be there (tax payers) would appreciate that we were there (at least in part) to hang out and get to know one another, often times over food and libations.

In my previous blog post I discussed that fact that networking is a skill. That means that it can be learned and taught to others. It means that you should take a risk on an individual who has little to no networking skill when hiring. I also believe in the notion that networking is a necessary skill in today's business world.

The longer I sat through these education sessions the more that I became convinced that all of this is true.

As a manager (and I don't think it matters whether we talk about public, private or non-profit sector) having the basic networking knowledge and skill sets is incredibly important. A few different situations that came to mind as I learned about generating revenue and reducing costs in the parks and recreation world include:

• Getting recommendations when you are looking for new employees to hire.
• Researching an area or subject with which you are unfamiliar with for a project.
• Getting information about a potential employer before you go on an interview.
• Collecting information about a potential client.
• Obtaining reviews and recommendations when hiring a contractor or consultant.
• Finding colleagues who have already partnered with another agency, service provider or vendor.
• Review results and feedback on a contractor or program provider before you hire them.

Aside from all of these reasons though I heard again and again from my peers how important it was to be able to adapt to the seemingly constant stream of changes in local government.

In other words you need to be able to think on your feet and move quickly when threats or opportunities arise. You need to be able to connect the dots between people, ideas and social situations. You need to be able to make the world a better place. And yes networking does that.

And that is the most important reason to network. By making the right and best hire, by putting the best contractor to work for you, by introducing the next great manufacturer to the next great marketer you might make the world a little better. You will gain credibility by making appropriate introductions. Colleagues will entrust you with information if they know you will use it to aide them. People will naturally gravitate towards you if they know you have a strong network that can support them as well.

If nothing else remember this, networking at its heart is not about you, your rise to the top or the number of LinkedIn connections you obtain. It's all about putting the right people together at the right time. So take a step back, review the how's and now start working on your why's of networking.