Creating delight by meeting unspoken needs.
Its summer in Chicago, which means that I try to make the most of those infrequent, perfect days that balance out the months of winter. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time on the 606, a new rails-to-trails conversion near my house that opened in June. Every time I walk, run or bike on this 2.7 mile stretch of path I’m shocked by how quickly it has become a part of the fabric of city life. There are always hundreds of people (and dogs) taking advantage of this new park, and they all look happy.
I’m amazed each visit by the feeling of community created in this space. Unlike most parks, it’s very narrow. You don’t come to this park to sprawl out under a tree and find your own space. You come to enjoy activity with likeminded neighbors. You look into their faces and share a smile as you cross paths. You stay alert to avoid the stride of a rollerblader. You (ok, maybe just I) scan for oncoming dogs in hopes of getting in a quick pet and a hello to their people. You engage.
I’ve spent more than a few visits wondering what all these people did just three months ago, before they had this fantastic space to enjoy. Did they take their walks on the sidewalks of their neighborhoods? Did they go to other parks? Did they just sit on their couches? If you’d asked these people a year ago if they needed this space what would they have said? They probably would’ve shrugged and said no.
Yet it instantly filled a void that most of us didn’t know existed. People have changed their routines to make enjoying this space a part of their lives. I regularly take a less-direct route to my destinations that involves the 606 because it makes the trip better. Not faster, but more fun.
I’ve thought about why I love this space so much and came up with a few reasons:
It gives me a new way to get places I’ve gone hundreds of times, breaking monotony and creating new choices of how to go about my day.
When I’m running on this path, I’m with others who are there to exercise. We share a goal and can feed off each other’s energy. When I run on the sidewalks of my neighborhood I dodge people grimly trudging to the subway to go to work, or franticly running errands.
The path runs above street level, providing a very different perspective. You see beautiful hidden gardens, you notice playgrounds and shops that don’t stand out when you’re on their level.
This project saw something that was an ignored relic (unused train tracks) and found a way to bring it back to life and make it relevant.
These observations made me wonder how organizations could bring delight by filling needs their employees didn’t even know they had. How can you create connections and shift perspectives in your workplace in a similar way? What would happen if you:
nudged employees into interacting with the office space in a different way? You could do something as simple as moving the coffee so people had to walk down a different corridor and interact with different coworkers to get their morning fix.
provided space and/or time for recreation? Think about creating a space where employees don’t work, where they can share creative projects, play board games, and interact in fun ways, sparking relationships and creativity. These kinds of breaks can enhance productivity and focus energy.
encouraged people to shift their perspective? This could be as simple as mixing up seating. Facing a different direction, overhearing new voices and conversations or sitting on a different floor can help you see things in a new way and make new connections.
repurpose an existing meeting or space? Most organizations have meetings that are as useful as abandoned train tracks. Can you find ways to bring new life to these gatherings? Can you turn a weekly status meeting into a visioning meeting where you work collaboratively to seek out opportunities to move forward rather than reading a spreadsheet together? In addition to meetings in need of refreshing, you may also have spaces that have grown moss and could benefit from reimagining. Create an inspiration room, a relaxation room or a team hub, where people work together instead of at their individual workstations.
While no one is specifically asking for any of these changes, you may find that they facilitate new connections and provide delightful new ways of going about routine activities that can drive employee satisfaction up.