Creating a Summer of Moments at Work and Home
Understanding What Helps Memories Stick
Summer is here! We’ve been waiting for so long, everyone is connecting, and after the blur of Zooming day-in-day-out for a year, there’s a chance to make this summer memorable. In my own life, our eldest daughter just graduated from high school and this will be her “last” summer before college, and we’ve been planning ways to make it memorable. (The photo is from our annual blueberry picking excursion). On the work front, I’ve just started with a few new clients after lock down. Creating in-person powerful opening retreats has been a highlight as it got them out of their regular environment which helped them think differently, opening new possibilities. Please read on to learn a little bit more about how to be more intentional about creating powerful moments.
Distinction: The Power of Building Intentional Moments
Memories aren’t an average of every moment we have; they’re not “fair” from that perspective. Some things we remember, and some parts of our days and weeks just blur together and we can’t recall much at all. Monotony collapses time, while novelty unfolds it. This is why it’s hard to remember what you had for lunch when you bring your lunch from home every day and eat at your desk, but the lunch out with a friend on a random Thursday, sticks in your mind.
We also don’t remember evenly-- we particularly remember the peak event and the ending. This is important to remember, both in our work and home life.
At Work
Research shows that when customers were on a flight with a funny flight safety announcement, they flew one half-flight more over the next year than did similar customers who hadn’t heard one. This is how Southwest leverages humor to help create “moments” on an otherwise ordinary, forgettable flight. Those moments increase customer loyalty, which translates into increased revenue.
From a leadership perspective, managers often spend much of their day fixing problems. The challenge is that fixing problems doesn’t create peak memorable moments, it’s neutral. Finding ways to bring in the unexpected can boost energy, cultivate a culture of appreciation and bring joy to the workplace. The show The Office has some great examples of how to make your day stand out! Here’s a funny compilation.
Family Vacation
As previously mentioned, we remember the peak moment, not the whole day. That’s why it’s possible to spend hours in the hot sun waiting in line for rides at Disney World, and still think it’s a fantastic vacation because you got to go on your favorite ride from your childhood with your kid. (Space Mountain or It’s a Small World, whatever floats your boat). While we don’t want to obsess over creating maximum peak highlights (“Kids, the next highlight is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.!”), orienting around a few peak moments (often unplanned) that happen and positively reflecting on them afterward can help lock in that positive memory.
Additionally, as noted in articles and books such as “Powerful Moments” (see below), we remember the last moment. This is why the saying “end on a high note” is so true. I made this mistake once when we were on a family vacation to Costa Rica. The schedule was such that our second to last day we’d be doing a giant zipline (a peak moment) and then we’d drive for several hours and spend the night midway back to the airport. I got an inexpensive Airbnb since I knew that we’d just be sleeping there. That said, it was a little too inexpensive, the place was a bit rough, and one of my girls looked with sadness and said, “But this is our last night…” Lesson learned. This year on vacation I planned that our nicest hotel would be the last night, and the kids were thrilled with the cool pool. Smiles prevailed this time.
Wishing you a wonderful summer with positive moments to remember.
P.S. If you’re looking for outside support to help you with your commitments, my work as a leadership coach provides support to individuals and organizations that want to fulfill on their growth and development (with many moments to remember!). With Covid, leaders and teams are under enormous pressure right now. Please let me know if you’d like to have a conversation about executive coaching, team development or leadership training.
Great Link
You can bet this morning train ride created a “moment” that transformed their day. Made me smile…Train passengers sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow (4:37)
Reflection Exercise: Moving from Theory to Action
To support you in creating some “novel” experiences:
When you do something new, it captures your attention and therefore are more likely to be present and notice things, and this added presence is shown to improve your mood and happiness. For this exercise, take 15-20 minutes and make a list of new experiences you can have this summer-- big or small-- anything new can inspire. Think about work, too- what can shake it up during these summer months? If you’d like, I’d love to hear some of your favorite activities! Drop me a note.
Quarterly Quote
“Today’s moments are tomorrow’s memories.” -Unknown
Book Review
Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact
By Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Love this book! I’ve always been fascinated by memories and what we remember and don’t. This book breaks it down from a science perspective and highlights four variables that increase the chance we’ll remember something: Elevation – rise above the everyday; Insight – defining moments rewire our understanding of ourselves to the world; Pride – moments of achievement; Connection – weddings, graduations, baptisms. It will get you designing ways you can create more memorable moments that stick.