Blake Dowling
Corporate team building activities; I love them, but it is a love-hate thing.
There have been too many silly exercises in my career, so I cringe (slightly) whenever someone mentions the phrase.
I tried to counter it by calling “Team Building at Aegis Muy Bueno Activities,” or MBAs for short. That went over like the 1997 movie “Steel,” starring Shaquille O’Neal and Judd Nelson.
I love a good Hollywood box office flop, but even I have never heard of this gem.
By the numbers, it cost $16 million to make and hauled in $1.7. No muy Bueno activity here.
So, MBAs never took off; however, we have done some cool activities together as a team, such as a Break Out Room as a company. We divided into small groups and did three each.
Most groups had an awesome experience, don’t knock it if you have not tried one.
One group did have an anti-team building experience. In fact, they said they never wanted to do anything out of the office together again.
Luckily those characters are long gone.
Check out Break Out Room in Tallahassee, an awesome spot.
Another year, we held a scavenger hunt around Midtown with small teams — which turned into a bar crawl (and one of the most epic ones).
This year, we just made shirts to celebrate each other, which is as much as the world can handle at this point.
I went with a post-apocalyptic vibe, plus Bluth family, wine and a giraffe. Not bad, eh?
With that on the table, the one team building that has always stuck with me was the Ball of Yarn exercise led by Aegis Founder Pam Butler and guru of all things Tony Carvajal (congrats on the Florida TaxWatch gig, sir).
For those who never tried it, you gather the team in a circle (kumbaya time), and the first person goes by throwing the ball of yarn to a person in the group that they are thankful for and why.
It continues until the yarn is wrapping everyone together, and bonding has occurred. It’s really fun, and even the most anti-team building people can get into it as long as you have a couple of moles in the group to get it started on the right foot.
Thank you, Pam and Tony. Nicely done.
For this column, I thought I would do a virtual yarn toss and reach out to some of my favorite Floridians to see what they are thankful for this holiday and Christmas season and where it goes.
We could all use some good news, so here goes — I throw the ball to Drew Piers from Sachs Media Group. I am thankful to call them friends and am always floored by what they come up with.
Did you see their ShareGratitude2020 (which is 100% in line with this column)? They gather stories of what people are thankful for and put them all in one place.
Take it away, Drew:
“For me personally, on a practical level, I’m thankful for technology that allows me to connect with family, friends and co-workers. Had this crazy pandemic happened even just 5-10 years ago, I don’t think we would have nearly the same quantity and quality of tools like Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams, Slack, FaceTime, etc. It’s great and has made such a challenging time a bit more bearable. Obviously, we’ve used those tools professionally quite a bit. But my family has held several virtual game nights and FaceTime with loved ones who are in the hospital, and that helps make the best out of a bad situation.”
Next up, yarn toss to the one and only Samantha Sexton, Director of Government Relations, University of Florida.
Sexton’s commitment to our state and community is awesome.
“Personally, I’ve never been more grateful for the men and women with the USPS, FedEx and UPS- they’re the true all-stars that keep my household running!” Sexton says. “Also, from the community perspective, I’m beyond grateful for the Junior Leaguers who are committed to improving our community through generous service and contributions. Collectively, they’ve shattered every benchmark we needed to hit in 2020 and continuously challenge our organization to set higher standards for lasting change.”
Next, we toss the yarn to Brad Swanson with Florida Internet and Television.
Brad is a character, a samurai of winning, a friend always willing to lend a helping hand, and a stellar human being. It’s a pleasure to know you, sir. Yarn toss to Swanson, and he replies with …
“Yarn toss to Charlie Dudley (Floridian Partners) … I am thankful for this kind man who constantly has a heart for our industry and the people who make it possible. He is on the ramparts with one eye to the horizon and the other to the battlefield! A general who longs for his family when in the trenches, and when he is at peace, his mind is on the battle ahead. A quiet statesman whose counsel is undeniably on point.”
That concludes today’s muy bueno column — like it or not; life is short.
I had one of the worst weeks of the year; it’s a reminder of just how precious time is.
Hopefully, we can all remember to take a minute to soak it all in and appreciate each other and our blessings. Maybe even toss the yarn to a friend or co-worker. If you share this column and use the hashtag #yarntoss.
I hope you have a safe December, and thank you for reading my columns this year, I appreciate the feedback (most of it), and I wish you well.
God Bless you and Go Gators.
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Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies, host of the Biz & Tech podcast and writes columns for several organizations. He wonders if this the year the Gators beat Alabama in Atlanta after the last three flops (2009,2015, 2016)?
