Here at Gravitate Online we have a unique culture. We work hard, but we also play hard. Some days we have scooter races. One day we had a cursive writing competition. And every day we play ping pong. We also have a theme each day of the week: Monday Meetings, Team Building Tuesday, Brown Bag Wednesday, Guilty Pleasure Thursday, and Friday Lunch Around the Ping Pong Table.
I recently came across a great article on Business Insider, titled 25 Daily Habits That Will Make You Smarter. As I read the list, I realized that some of her suggestions are already built into our culture here at Gravitate. While our culture does provide for a lot of fun, it also provides some great opportunities to make us smarter. Here are just a few examples:
#3. Play Devil’s Advocate: This happens every Friday around noon. A topic is proposed, and both sides are intensely debated. We have a few key players that will pick the devil’s advocate side, no matter what. Sometimes it drives the rest of us crazy, but we have to admit they’ve got great critical thinking skills.
#6. Subscribe to feeds of interesting information / #8 Share what you learn with other people: Several of us subscribe to feeds from various websites, and we often share our findings in an open discussion in the office, or in our office Google Hangout.
#12. Write down what you learn: Several of us have our own personal blogs, but we also have the opportunity to write on Gravitate’s blog each week.
We’ve got a pretty good start around here, but there is always room for improvement. What are some ways you could apply some of her ideas in your workplace?