Since my feet resettled at work after Jack settled, as much as a new baby settles, at home, the Floricane team has been working on hyperdrive. We're ending the year at a metaphorical sprint, and starting 2015 a bit daunted by the density of work that's already on the calendar.
We're busy. I get it. Obviously, we don't have time to plan, or brainstorm, or dream.
Except that sometimes taking time is easy.
I sat down next to Caroline's desk this afternoon and began to do that thing she probably dreads -- free associate about various half-formed projects stuck in assorted corners of my mind.
How much has she grown in her two years with our team? So much that she didn't nod along with my business-as-usual monologue.
In five minutes, she took one of our most popular initiatives -- a simple postcard bearing an iconic image, and a quote -- and she blew it up. She spoke up and turned an old idea into something that is so much more accessible and amazing. (Look for it on Martin Luther King Jr. Day next month.)
Undaunted, I turned my attention to our calendar of events for 2015. We have a lot of events already on the calendar -- 22 days with scheduled Floricane activities and workshops in just the first three months of 2015. "Something square maybe? A poster that people will hang on their walls?" I suggested.
"How about...?" Caroline picked up a pair of scissors, and cut a long strip of paper. She picked up a pen and added some flourish. She pulled up a website of an amazing letter press designer. "...something like this instead?"
Exactly. And it was over in 20 minutes. Collaboration at its best -- simple, creative and fast.