A friend of mine owns a firm for flower decorations of weddings and other celebrations. They have a distinctive style: delicate, natural and very tasteful.
She told me how she had recently met with a big successful company who had been interested in hiring her to do the decorations for their gala celebration. Their budget for the decoration itself was sufficient enough to build a third of a kindergarten. The remaining part of the budget for the event –a whole kindergarten.
So I go: “But where’s the team building, where’s the bonding part in that?” And then it dawned on us: they could have taken one day to go and paint a kindergarten, its playground equipment, and thus work together and bond. Where else could you create such a strong feeling of community, but by working together for a good cause?
Why are people so reluctant to get out of the box, out of the same old boring habits? To try something new, something unusual, yet good. I imagine all those corporate people now in T-shirts, overalls, gloves, painting, coloring, carrying stuff… Imagine the amount of laughter at such a gathering. I bet there would be much more fun than at a gala party. I see them painting and being proud of their own hands.
At the end of the day, an orchestra in the corner plays something nice and lively. A simple, yet delicious dinner is served. You can hear the sounds of a violin and a cello, a guitar is playing Besame Mucho, and the weather is nice. The female colleagues are especially beautiful, their hair a bit messy, but they are enchanted with the pleasant tiredness and the music. Those who are not too exhausted are dancing, the others simply enjoy the music and the feeling of personal fulfillment. The moon is big and orange, and everything is magic.
I will derail a bit and tell you a quick story from a couple of years ago. I was walking down the park with my then three-year old son. We stopped for a moment so I could buy him some popcorn and help him get a pebble out of his shoe. A dark-haired, swarthy boy was looking at us and said: “You’re so lucky to be of value to your child!” I’ve never heard truer words in all these years. “You’re so lucky to be of value…”
To be modest is a new luxury. To be of value to someone is a privilege. When we believe in that, we will believe that the magic is within the people and within the music, and not in the budget. Therefore, Besameeee Mucho…
