Patrick Schaber over at The Lonely Marketer has a beautiful post about his friend Jill who put two chairs in the middle of a busy corporate campus and sat down to listen to anyone who had something to say. Needless to say there was a line of people waiting to talk and be heard. This is one of the more innovative employee communications strategies I’ve heard in a long time. No technology. Just real listening among people. Thanks for sharing Patrick!
I come from New York City and one of the things I used to do on my lunch hour when I was working in Downtown Manhattan was to sit and play chess with one of the people that sat in the park with a Chessboard setup and would play for money. I wasn’t playing for money, but just enjoyed a good game of chess with an experienced player.
One of them I played with a few times told me that he was only there every day really for the conversation. Chess was the side thing going on while he got to talk with a wide range of people. He was more interested in just talking with people than the money, or the game.
I think people really do like to meet others and talk about things in general, but it’s the initial start of it that is the obstacle to overcome. Jill removes that with an inviting way to be approached and reaps the benefits of that, as do her guests.
Great anecdote.
Anthony
Flat out love this story…
Hi, Lois,
First, I was looking for the most obvious recent place to ping you about how John Battelle is singin’ your conversational song:
>> The Successful Business Owner…
>> …is a great conversationalist. Part Two of my series over on the Amex site…
>> It’s a truism for nearly every successful local business I’ve seen: The owners are engaged with their clients, they know them well, and moreover, they are seen as leaders and storytellers – masters of their domain, and more than happy to talk about it.
http://battellemedia.com/archives/004323.php
===
Meanwhile, this story about the lady and her two chairs really strikes to the heart of a great principle we all need to routinely remember to return to: looking for the Simplest approach to fulfilling a need.
From my own humble online speaking, a couple samples of posts tagged “simplicity,” one of my favorites:
“Can trends be predicted, much less created?”
(Oh, look, this one quotes *you* — what a coincidence!)
http://rosswriting.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#1049122634016901443
Or, say,
“Serious Fun Dept.: The Playpump”
http://rosswriting.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#5670811944253520571
Last thought: the key to being able to see simple solutions? It almost invariably starts with being willing to
s l o w d o w n…
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the tidbits — and especially the advice on being willing to slowdown. (and of course the tech snags heads up!!!)
Wrapping up lunch today a friend who is a sr. exec at a major global company asked a simple, wonderful question, “How can I help you?” Wow. It opened up some great ideas.Imagine if we all asked professional colleagues and friends that question more often.
Lois