“It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how”

My first Halloween at Perforce

It all started with a package that arrived at my house with instructions to be dressed in what was in the box and be on video for our October town hall – a Halloween-y special! To my joy, I found floppy blue ears, a wiggly blue tail, and a fluffy pink flower. Voila, I was supposed to be Horton from Horton Hears a Who!

 An announcement had been sent out to all employees to come dressed in costumes and they were welcome to have family members, including fur babies, in costumes. I knew that the whole leadership team had received a box with similar instructions, but we did not know what each other’s boxes contained. We showed up on the zoom townhall with our costumes and videos on.

 We were the Dr. Seuss Leadership Team with the CEO, Mark Ties, as the Cat-in-the-Hat - very appropriate for the cat herder: “I can hold up the cup and the milk and the cake! I can hold up these books and the fish on a rake! I can hold the toy ship and a little toy man! Look, with my tail, I can hold a red fan! I can fan with the fan as I hop on the ball! But that is not all.”

Seeing my fellow teammates in costumes just made me crack up. And then the amazing thing happened, screen after screen of Perforceans in costumes. There must have been over 300 of them in costumes from all over the world; some had kids in costumes with them, some were dressed in a theme as a team, and there were even people who had their pets as accessories! It was the best town hall of the year, where we talked a little bit about business, but really focused on having fun and bringing everyone’s unique personalities out.

 It made me think of this quote from Horton Hears a Who: “So call a big meeting. Get everyone out. Make every *Who* holler! Make every *Who* shout! Make every *Who* scream! If you don’t, every *Who* is going to end up in a Beezle-Nut stew!” 

In these COVID times, when we are all stuck at home, it’s easy to feel like we have lost our voice. Many of us miss connecting informally with people we love to work with. The Perforce Halloween townhall exemplified bringing people together and giving them time and space to dress up, show their personality, talk about their costumes, have fun, and just bond.  

Some of you may be wondering why I am writing about this experience - it is simply to remind us that we are first and foremost humans and we need to take care of ourselves and our people. It all starts with connecting, creating bonds, and having fun. We cannot forget to do that even in times like this. The hardest task for anybody in a leadership position right now is to balance empathy and fun with meeting the business and financial goals – but we must, since they are equally important, and they foster each other.

 Till next time...

 “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not” - Lorax