“People will never go out of business.” – Michael Scott, The Office

This week, I had the privilege of taking my colleagues out on a well deserved mini-retreat to reflect on their accomplishments over the past year, and to show gratitude for all that they mean to me and the space we share together.

There, I took the opportunity to showcase Pandemic Hot Zone: North America (a smaller version of the classic board game Pandemic, my all time favorite one). Pandemic is a cooperative game that’s won (and lost) together as a team, based on the quality of the collaboration among its players. I was nervous about if it would go well, as my colleagues aren’t regular board gamers like me, and it would be their first time ever playing a co-op.

I’m impressed by how quickly they picked up the game as I went through the teach, with them asking forward thinking questions about the game. They were building an intuition quickly on how our unique abilities can synergize, and how sudden crises require the ability to adapt and switch priorities to avoid failing the core mission entirely. The game went down to the wire — with just three turns left in the game when we realized we still had 2 out of 3 of the game objectives to complete, but we were close. 

Through careful planning from them driving, and me being there to help them understand their options (trusting them enough to not push any particular direction), we were able to pull off the win with zero turns left to play! After the game, they excitedly gave each other (and me) high fives, and I saw that they were pleasantly surprised by how this co-op game helps draw out themes that map out to fostering a collaborative workplace.

I’m extremely grateful for my colleagues and their part in making my work meaningful and purposeful. We do have our hard days, and we come from very different starting points in how we approach our work. But we always make it to having the conversation about our values and our shared purpose. Doing so allows us to see each other for the best we can be together. 

Thanks to The Kitchen Table at Relish (shoutout to Austin) for making it a great experience for us!