My wife, Sarah, works for a national corporation. The structure of her company is ‘corporate,’ and so are many aspects of the culture she’s involved in.
The other day, we were working together from a local brewery to wind down a long day, and she showed me an email she had sent to her to team as she explained how a new product launch had gone for them. The email was an internal piece that probably went to 20 people or so, and the first thing I noticed about the email was that it lead off with a relevant .gif at the top of the thread, followed by light-hearted, exciting text. It was a small reel of the GEICO Hump Day Camel (no, Sarah doesn’t work for GEICO). An added, fun touch to an exciting announcement within the company.
I took note of that .gif and admired Sarah for the fun she brought to her work. Even in the craziness and stress of a product launch, she brought an element of fun, excitement and creativity to the table that was no doubt a breath of fresh air to the rest of her team.
The .gif usage stood out to me more than it normally would because as of late, I’ve felt like sometimes I take myself too seriously. At work and in life. I’ve thought too much about sounding professional and perfect within email threads, and I’ve lost touch with bringing creativity and fun to situations when I have the chance to. Part of that is due to the work culture i’m in myself, as it’s an extremely buttoned-up environment, and because it’s that way, I believe it offers even more chances to be creative in bringing fun into the work place.
In work, in family, in faith and in life, fun is important and team comradery is vital. Taking ourselves too seriously can get in the way of both.
-Cliff
Cliff’s Note: When in doubt, send a .gif.