How fun is it to learn something new? Whether it is how to use AI to craft a better story, or a new video game or, for my husband Paul, a new mirrorless camera? A beginner’s mind is totally engaged and excited.

It reminded me of when I would sit effortlessly on the floor as a kid building freeways out of blocks with my sister and brother. We would do that for hours. And, yes we were L.A. kids. Freeways were being built through the San Fernando Valley and the adults around thought this was was exciting so we did too. Hence, we constructed freeways going through Joe’s room, out the door and down the hall. We had underpasses and overpasses and cloverleaf interchanges. We argued over naming them and spent joyful hours in play.

The feeling returns when we get to learn something new without the stress of too little time and big deadlines looming with a needed outcome. Maybe that is why people are, might I describe it as “joyful”, when they share what they discovered “playing with” AI.

Maybe that is why my Vistage Member had a slightly goofy laugh when he reported he was late to work the other day ’cause he had been back to practicing guitar and got caught up in playing before work.

Watching Paul delight in learning the complexities of our friend Pamela’s mirrorless camera was contagious. We went to the Huntington Gardens just as the rain stopped and the trees were shedding the raindrops. The sun came in and out as we rambled through the Chinese garden and then the Japanese gardens while he snapped away. Then they would confer on settings and try something new. And, no one was in a hurry to do anything else.

The creative feeling carries over into everything else we do. Why aren’t we encouraging it more in how we do our work? When the leader does it, it sets the tone for how we work/play around here. What is one area of your work that you could use a little mucking around in this week? Have some fun.

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