A View from the Other Side

I’ve always been a fan of the Sunday comics, and I admit to getting a kick out of Dilbert in particular. For years I’ve gone through the same ritual: I read the comic and get a good laugh almost without fail. It hits home, I can almost anticipate the punch line because I’ve been through it at work already. Process takes the place of creativity, innovation is squashed in the name of business-as-usual and the realities of org charts, annual ratings, and powerpoint decks…ha ha, ain’t that the truth! And then a second later, my laughter is replaced by an introspective voice that says “so what are you laughing at? You’re the one who’s living this out most days.” It’s kind of like, “hey buddy, the joke is funny, but isn’t the joke on you?”

Last Sunday, for the first time ever, when that voice came into my head, I was able to say, “my gosh, the joke isn’t on me”. Not anymore. I’m on a different side in the fight now. I’ve always wondered, isn’t there a place where I can do great work, champion the causes that really make sense to me, shed light in the dark corners that momentum usually keeps unlit? Welcome to Play.

My first day was everything I hoped it would be. How can a day go wrong when it begins with a crowd of enthusiastic cheerleaders welcoming me at the front door at 8:30? (Ok, 8:34) Everything about the environment makes you want to create, makes you want to find a new path. From the graffiti in the bathroom, to the freight trains rumbling by just feet from the 3rd floor windows, to the excitable dogs yipping under my desk. The basement of the building is a dusty, beautiful museum of artifacts that tell the story of how this idea, this process, this belief was born and nurtured over 18 years to become something so personal and moving today.

The people make this work, and I already look forward to seeing them tomorrow. And the funny thing is, I could hardly quote a single item from the resume of any of my co-workers. I have no clue where Barry has worked before Play…couldn’t tell you what Jen’s undergraduate major was for a million dollars. But it doesn’t matter because what I do know is that these people are so, so talented. Their energy and drive is intoxicating from minute #1, and the cumulative passion for this “cause” seems hardly containable by our wonderful old brick building. In this place, with these people, every pen, every notebook, every think card suddenly has the potential to change paradigms, change companies, change lives.

I have a ton to learn and a million words to absorb, and nothing but optimism and excitement around that journey. This will be a day that I’ll look back on for the rest of my life as a day when a stubbornly locked door was opened to reveal a world that I always hoped was on the other side. You know, like when you finally place that one keystone piece in a jigsaw puzzle? I won’t ever solve the puzzle, but I have a whole new section to work on now, full of potential and opportunity. Forget about work-life "balance"...I want a work-life mash-up, where Sam the person, the employee, and the student all exist simultaneously. Punt the mask and costume, I'm leaving them at home!

I know Dilbert will go on, but it will have to go on without my complicity. I'm on the "good guys" side of the story now!