Latest / Steve Azar's Resonance: A Podcast for Leaders, Unpacking the Power of Song, Silence and Strategy / Resonance Season 3: Are You Still Having Fun?

Transcript

Resonance Season 3: Are You Still Having Fun? · Steve Azar's Resonance: A Podcast for Leaders, Unpacking the Power of Song, Silence and Strategy

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is Resonance, the podcast with leaders that unpacks the power of song, silence, and strategy.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: We believe the great leadership begins with deep listening, not just to others, but to the still small voice within.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just about being a successful leader, it's about being soulfully aligned as well.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_03: In a world moving fast, resonance invites you to pause and reconnect with purpose, people, and possibilities.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: We'll dive into some cool stories, celebrate with friends, and dig deep into the music too.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: Cause song has a way of saying what words cannot alone.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: So whether you're leading a business, a team, or just trying to lead your own life with more meaning, this is Resonance.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: Resonance, Resonance.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Resonance.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: You can check us out at residenceleader.com.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: You're always going to find Mike the Monk Guy Farrell, Randy Harrington, PhD.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Both of these guys are wonderful authors.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Myself, Steve Azar here.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: I am an author of a children's book, which is our state song of Mississippi that I wrote years ago.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: He's actually still the best star.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so grateful for that.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's out schooled us by like a gazette.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I just want to compare the difference in art.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: He sold more children's books than you and I have sold business books together.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, come on.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's all about the kids.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: All about the kids.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: Well, today we're gonna speaking of kids who always like to have fun back in the days when they didn't have to work.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: How about mixing fun with work and with what we all do, what anybody does.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: Girls just want to have fun.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Not only do they, but everybody else in the world when you're building success in whatever it is you're doing, and also at the same time you're building these wonderful relationships.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: If you have wonderful relationships between you and whoever you're working with, if uh if there are companies, if people in the comp within the companies, the bottom line is you're gonna have the best shot at being successful because you are having a good time.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: Period.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I can tell you this no hit records were made when it wasn't a whole lot of laughter, a whole lot of smiles, a whole lot of joy going on.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: Probably zero if that wasn't happening.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: It just doesn't translate in our world to the consumer who wants to be emotionally moved.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost like they know what was going on in the studio when that record was recorded, and they know if we were getting along or not.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: And if we were, they're certainly going to give it a real listen and they're gonna feel what we felt.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: That is what goes on in Randy and Mike's world as well as consultants.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure they have worked with so many people, but I am at a point in my life where the people and businesses that I'm working with, which are quite a bit now, uh, are becoming remarkably really great friends.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: The best of friends, which these relationships have become so strong that we are always pulling for each other to be successful together.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: And it's the best feeling in the world, and this is the best place I've been uh in my entire artist's career with those relationships.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: So you you put your finger on a couple of things there as you are wont to do, and the first one is that fun connects to relationship.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and it does.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's I I I will say, you know, I'm trying not to get myself in any trouble here, but uh my wife will say, Oh, hey, we have so and so that's gonna that has invited us for dinner on so and so time.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, huh.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well huh.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just I I it ain't gonna be fun.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's there's the strike I can tell you, it's just and so as a result, the whole evening kind of just becomes something that I have to work and manage my way through as opposed to yay, you know, uh if I'm gonna be at the at the lemon drop in, by God, we're gonna have a good time and it's gonna be I'm not gonna be worried about anything, you know, it'll be a it'll be a good thing.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, so we are we're getting to this idea of is how does fun work in an organization?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And is is fun it's we've we've all heard those people, you know, oh, and let's have fun too.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just kind of like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's we know it's gonna be grueling, painful work, and you're saying let's have fun.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: But what we what the research is pretty clear about is that fun makes a big, big, big difference.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And one quick factoid before I throw it over uh to you, Mike.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um research just came out from South America where they have been studying and filming uh uh animals uh that are uh let me you know what I'm gonna do?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell the story in just a minute and I'll get it right.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the one of the m the masked animals, the uh uh furry guys, uh uh um raccoons.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I was trying to remember if it was raccoons or what it was, but it's raccoons.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So raccoons in this study, they they go and they grab old pieces of paper, and then they get the pieces of paper wet and they make a ball.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then they play with the ball, and then they teach their kids how to make balls, and it's the first recorded evidence of animals making toys.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that was cool.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: I just read that this morning on NPR.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I'll go look for it.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: But the idea that you get raccoons that are actually playing catch uh with balls that they have.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: And they seem like the kind of animals that that makes sense to me.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: They do it with garbage in our alley.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, oh, listen, let me tell you a quick little funny story.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: We were having raccoon problems at our Franklin, Tennessee house.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: We were up in the woods.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we were really just invading their territory, probably.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: But but we so I decided, because it kept getting the garbage can every night, and I decided to put a bunch of really habanero hot sauce on the edges of it.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we pulled up that night, because we but we ate spicy stuff, really, really spicy stuff.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: So apparently the raccoon was trained because it was it it was like licking its lips and smiling at us with those teeth, hanging on the garbage can and didn't leave like it was going like, thank you for the extra love.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Fucking.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like, well, there you go.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: We should like that that sucker would handle it like we did, and it didn't run him off.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: Started asking for a cold beer.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_03: I was impressed.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and you know, it's it's interesting.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: All three of us are on the road to Fairmount and we eat out and all that kind of stuff.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: But think about the vibe when you walk into a restaurant, think about the vibe that you feel when you can tell that everybody's working together, having a good time.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, Steve, you know, I was down in Greenville, Does.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you walk into Does and everybody's joyful, they're having a good time, they're doing what they love to do.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_03: You know, even places like Chick-fil-A.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: How many times have you seen Chick-fil-A that's a bummer?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_03: Never.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: It's just not built into the culture.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that when we think about this idea of fun and think about this idea of joy, it's got to be built into the culture.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: And it starts with the way we treat each other, it starts with respect, it starts with understanding, and it starts with the ability for everyone to contribute.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_03: And when people feel like they matter, it's much easier to create an environment that's fun.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: So let me just let me just say this good point about hospitality, profound hospitality, right?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: So when I go to places now, I go I sound like a broken record, but always say it's more like a platinum record because you're excited to see people so incredibly kind.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: And what and they're working, right?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so we just went to Mexico recently.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody puts their hand on their heart, like, and then they say, you know, Buenos Dios and gosh.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: So for two weeks, almost two weeks, we had the experience of that being everywhere we went.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then you come, and then you go, we came home, uh, went to uh Columbia, South Carolina to do Alex English, great NBA player, his charity event.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna tell you something from the time we got to the hotel, a few things we needed, uh to uh, you know, ask him for a late checkout the next day because we had to change hotels because of something going on and all that to go.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: But we had to drive in and we got there a night early.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: So, anyway, long story before the event started.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: So, anyway, just but every single person that we communicated with that came across our path at every both hotels, at every restaurant, I kept going, how incredibly nice are these people?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: How much fun are they having?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, like it was like on steroids, and then all of a sudden we're leaving town, pulling into a Starbucks, your favorite place, Mike, not mine, pulled into a Starbucks, and I just I was in the parking lot, and somebody's coming off the street, this lady, and this lady, I just I said, Well, I let her in because we were both kind of, you know, who's gonna go let who in?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: I let her in.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: She raises her hands up, like, who do you think you are?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, I let you in.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: And she, and then she started shaking her head and all that.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: So Gwen realized she had ordered online and it was inside, not gonna be through the drop-through.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm I get I shake it off and go like, I've had one person that just ruined my entire experience with everybody else.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: And so I go in there, and guess what happens?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm waiting, one, one of our coffees is ready, mine's ready, Gwen's is getting ready, and I the girl is at the window, I can barely see her car, and I can hear the employees say, Boy, we've got one at the window.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: And and and then she wants this and she wants that, and you could, they were so happy, and they were laughing about it.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Hey, she is the only person that I've ran across in all of Columbia, South Carolina uh that made me feel uh, you know, not so warm and fuzzy.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: And they were laughing.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: I said, I already ran into her a second ago in the parking lot.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: She's not a happy camper.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: So, but but everybody in there were laughing and smiling about it.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: They weren't putting her down.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: They were just like going, like, you know, like that she's not gonna rain on our parade.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: And it's funny how you think about this in a work environment in any situation.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: Think, imagine somebody on stage in the band that is absolutely having the worst time.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: Do you don't think that we would under feel that musically?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: How that would affect the outcome and what the crowd would see and feel and hear.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's all relative.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I you just gotta have everybody on point there.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like um, you know, not everybody's built to have fun the same way.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: Some people a little bit more exubiant, you know, some a little bit more, you know, out there and laugh a lot more and all that, but um you got to have enough definition of your own fun that fits with others if you're gonna build these relationships and find success together.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: And and I think that's a great pivot to Randy.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: Talk a little bit about forced fun.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, forced fun.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: We can have fun, we will begin the fun at two o'clock, and the fun will happen.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you like it or not.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's uh Yeah, no, it's a it's a thing.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: I I I was uh when I was in graduate school, I sold computer networks uh on the weekends to make a living while I was uh a student.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: While you were doing Pizza Hut as well?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, no, no, this is graduate school.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay, okay, okay.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I found that it's already gone.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: But uh there was a guy that was the sales manager there, and his name was Aaron Girard, and he had uh slicked back long hair that came down here, and he wore always a suit that was sort of old school looking, but kind of hip.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and he talked like this.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: He had a he would always say this is the way he talked.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was like And so I'm I'm getting onboarded, and he says, Randy, we like to we like to work really hard around here, but but we also like to have fun.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna be this is a fun place to work.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Okay.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes, and you know how we have fun?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: I said, No, Erin, how do you have fun?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: We make money.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we have fun.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for clearing that up for me.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what selling stuff.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: Fun making money.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: My dad's philosophy was my dad always said this.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this was the one thing that stuck in my mind.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: If you love what you do, you're having fun, and you're working really hard at that, the money will find it.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: We'll find you.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: It won't always guarantee you the riches of the world, but it will take care of you, trust me.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: And he just believed that.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: Second of all, just just in honor of you, I know this has nothing to do with today's podcast, but if you listened last week, that you would have known that Randy used to work at a pizza hut and was saved from that, and all of us were saved because we didn't want him to live on that pizza.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: But you can see how much they miss me.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: They're offering me 50% of the phone.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, there you go.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's hospitality.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's hospitality.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly right.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: They want you to come have some fun.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I I do feel a little like Groucho Marx, you know, when he said that he wouldn't be a member of any organization that would have him as a member, right?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh the uh the idea that when I got fired from Pizza Hut actually makes me like Pizza Hut more.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: They I obviously had standards that were that were I was like, yeah, let's go there.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: They obviously are are are they got it going on.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know what would have been great?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: You would have had a lot of fun, by the way.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: We're staying on point here.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: What would have been great if all of a sudden the CEO of Pizza Hut came to you and said he needed, you know, he needed some help.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it could still happen to either one of y'all, but for you, if it would if you're anybody from Pizza Hut listening, we're available.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just don't look at my work history.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: Would y'all mind if they pay us in pizzas?
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: I would be fine with that.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: No, I'd be fine with that.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: I think I'd be fine with that.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Work something up for sure.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so this idea though of fun, it is it is culturally defined.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think the idea of the mandatory fun thing, there is nothing worse in the world than being with a culture and to be in the back of the room when there's some forced thing that's going on, and it's often somebody on the stage, and they're saying stuff like the people in the room are four-year-olds.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, everybody.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now get with your partners, and there's some, hey, there's some papers and stickers on your table.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And who are you talking to?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Are you in the right?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Won't that be fun?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: About our vision.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And in the back of the room, you hear, oh, this is some beep, beep, beep, beep, the profanity.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and yeah, I got your I got your paper mache right here, you know.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's it's crazy.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: And that look that exists, and I've seen that I've seen that six months ago.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: Oftentimes, it's so it's so funny.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're missing who who's missing the point here of this situation.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: But I also think, like your guy was talking about, we have fun.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think that that's ever a a time when you talk about that until you've already had fun and you go, Man, this place is fun.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's like you don't talk about it.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: It just is, and you go, okay, this is incredible.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: How how long will this last?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Because I really love this situation.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, so that's uh those are the times you're really grateful for these relationships and these business and then things that you're doing and working with because um you've been on the other side of it, and the other side's not fun.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's awful.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know any other word to say.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: I could say a lot of words, but but it's it's not enjoyable.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: You don't sleep.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think that what makes those things work when they work is they allow all they're doing is they're just putting people it together and then saying, whatever happens is good.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, just talk, be just be natural, comfortable with each other instead of organi trying to, you know, structure everything down to uh uh you know an inch of its life.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: We were doing a whole bunch of work for Microsoft in this regard, and we were very clear that uh what worked with them was getting smart people in a room and then doing nothing.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Just letting them be.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they had the budget, they would bring in great oh, oh, it would just kill your soul, Steve.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you've done this.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh corporate, you know, you they hire you as a corporate artist and you go in there and you you're gonna sing and you're gonna do your show.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: You used to do it for United Airlines among others, but United a bunch.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: But they well, I would hope that they actually listened to you.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: When I would see the other thing.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: You probably had like uh you probably had like a Joni Mitchell show up and and nobody's listened, right?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Some some amazing or whatever.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and and a beautiful thing and everything is great, and they are paying zero attention to this person.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: And it is just we've all been in that situation.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: We've been in that situation.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: But uh every artist that I know has.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Get them together and they'll be fine.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just let them talk.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's how because they don't have that, especially nowadays, people really don't have a chance to have fun.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: And this idea that we can have fun on Zoom, this was uh fun during COVID was another interesting thing.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I did see a couple of times where I thought, well, that was weird.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there was a large shop I was working for out of Houston, and they had um I went on to do a little presentation on a Zoom call.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is right at the height of COVID, and I want to say there was maybe 150 people on the call.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: And as I joined the call, it looks like crazy pants because they were having a contest, a holiday decoration uh contest of people's houses.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so they would zoom in on people's houses and they had who they had done ridiculous things, and they were dressed as elves or whatever it was.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, they went all out, 150 people in this thing, and I was like, okay, that was the first time I've ever seen anybody do anything.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: What that told me was that their culture was strong before.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Just this wasn't something that occurred.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: It had to be there before.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Stay right there for a second.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Let's stay right there.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, a lot of people are working from home now.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of a lot of brick and mortar places.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't see the need.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, a lot of times you're working alone uh or you're not having that physical presence together, not this way we're here together.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm grateful for our time together, and I see y'all and everything.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the same as being together.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, how is that affecting uh the art of having uh building these relationships and making them stronger uh by having a great time together if you're alone in a room with just a screen in front of you?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's a challenge.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't think there's any we're we're social animals.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: We're we're genetically designed to be with each other.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I think that the the thing that thinking that we can establish this connection via screens, uh, I think is very difficult.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I and I think you're seeing obviously you're seeing many, many employers now requiring people to come back to the office, requiring people to come back to, you know, uh somewhere.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: And so I I think that idea of being able to make those connections via a screen is extremely difficult.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_03: And I think especially when you're talking about fun, Randy, the ex example you used, I mean I've been in uh a whole bunch of those group Zoom calls, and uh you know, I can count on half of one hand maybe the number of times where I would have anticipated or would have would have experienced any kind of fun, you know.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: And uh the only fun would have been, you know, watching somebody's dog do something in the background or something.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: But uh so I I think it's difficult.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_03: I think that that from a from a leadership perspective the the key to being able to to unlock that fun is the other aspect of that is understanding that when we create that environment, it unlocks a whole bunch of other things.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it unlocks innovation, it un unlocks curiosity, it unlocks creativity, all of those things.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_03: And so being able to figure out the the right chemistry, what's the you know, what's the right formula uh to determine how we create that environment, I think is the that's the art.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_03: That's not science, that's the art.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_03: And uh it really is uh understanding.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Who we are as a team, what jazzes our people?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_03: You know, what are the things that really they get excited about?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: Even as a leader, if I'm the CEO and I don't get excited about something, but I know everybody else on my team gets excited about something, you know, I'm probably gonna figure out how to incorporate that into the fun, even though it's not necessarily a lot of fun for me.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna I'm gonna get myself engaged in it because I know that my team is gonna be engaged in it.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:30
  unknown: Yeah.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's about uh first person lived experience, right?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's what at the end of the day, if if you don't have a first-person experience of enjoyment and relaxation or whatever it is, then it doesn't really show up.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've I've been impressed with some things that I've seen lately.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh Dragon boat racing.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do you guys know about that?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I haven't heard of that one.
• 22:52
  unknown: Yeah.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh dragon boats are uh this just they're just big old canoes.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh often with an outrigger.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and they're it's very popular in Asia, which is where I guess the dragon boat framing came from.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: But uh now it's happening all over the U.S.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: And uh corporations will uh take you know a couple of hundred people down and they'll have four or five teams uh doing dragon boat stuff.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it's designed to be just kind of just what you'd think.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, paddle your guts out uh and race against another team.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I have seen more actual teamwork and fun from those kinds of competitions.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there you go.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: There you go, Dragon Boat down here.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a big thing.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it's it's fun, uh it's safe, and you know, it's I think anytime you're you're in that situation where you you you don't have to know that much, but you can go compete.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, contrast that with pickleball.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Pickleball is another thing that I've seen really take off in terms of corporate culture.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but what I've noticed happen with pickleball is that m let's say you've got a hundred-person company, twenty-five of those people are gonna be pickleball freaks.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's all they want to do.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: The other 75 people are like, yeah, whatever.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: You guys, I don't know.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: And twelve of those twenty-five are gonna be seeing folks like my brother at going to the orthopedic surgery.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: But go ahead.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: But but so what can happen, I guess is what I'm saying, is that when you have this fun culture, oftentimes that turns into a subculture.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it so the fun has to be pretty diverse.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: It has to it has to share out across the organization.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you've got you're dealing with a lot of people that do a lot of different things that make them enjoyable, but you're also looking at, I think, at a bigger picture.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost like it's just the ability to get along like really well.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: And also what happens is, Randy, I may not be interested in wanting to play pickleball, but someone that I've become friends with doesn't may get me to play, I may play pickleball.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_02: I may, or I may be some with somebody that loves chess and they get excited about it.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's something I've never really done.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, teaching me how to play chess.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: The bottom line is you're getting together, learning new experiences.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: You talk about the creativity, the imagination, the curiosity, all these things that that help you breathe during the day that that makes you feel alive.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's what you want.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just telling you, it's it's just it's it's a necessity.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's a necessity.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: And I would say that probably one of the best foundational ways to be in begin to create that culture is around a table.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_03: When we break bread, when when we enjoy a meal together, when we do those kinds of things, it's an everybody's gotta eat.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and you know, most everybody likes to eat, you know.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: And so when you gather around a table, we talked about this in an earlier podcast about how all the conversation happens in the kitchen, you know.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh no different in an environment where we bring two people together for a meal uh or some sort of uh thing that's in conjunction with a meal, right?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: We create that camaraderie, we create those conversations, we create that environment that really allows people to kind of say, okay, I'm gonna let my guard down, uh, and I'm just gonna get to know somebody.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I'm gonna get to experience somebody.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: And so in those situations, I think that's where we begin to build up the opportunity to create fun.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think that you got to back up a little bit and you got to go about 45 minutes to an hour before the food, before you eat.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: And we've talked about this, the art of cooking, the art of being in the kitchen together before you sit down.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: That gets you to another level of comfort when you do sit down.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: I agree 100%.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I really like it when you go to a somebody's house for dinner or whatnot, and everything is 80% done or 70% done.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but there's still plenty of stuff you can do where you can feel like you're actually being a part of making the meal in whatever way, but it's not like it's it's hinging on your ability to do anything.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Meal is gonna be great no matter what.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: That's you know, we just we just had uh Steve has been to the lemon drop, Randy.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_03: Your wife Patty's been to the lemon drop, you know.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we had a big gathering at the lemon drop last Saturday night, and uh we we created this thing.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_03: Four of us had too much wine one night and decided that we needed to create this uh sorority slash fraternity called a ferrarity, all based on food.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_03: And so we we we found the uh Greek letters E-A-T.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: Epsilon alpha tau.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_03: We created a furority.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_03: So once a quarter we all get together in the lemon drop.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_04: What a great idea!
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_03: So so I cooked all afternoon and got ready for it, but then everybody brings something.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I wanted it all ready to go, all my end of it all ready to go so that I could focus on bartending.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, like Steve, you saw the menu.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: I come out with the whole cocktail menu and all that kind of stuff, and and we bring all these people together, but it's just this really cool time, and you know, some of them we try and bring some new ones in every time to kind of mix the mix the group up a little bit, and and uh, but it's that whole everybody brings something, and so then of course everybody's got to talk about what they made, and you know, what is it?
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_03: What did I cook?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_03: What did all those kinds of things?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: And some of it's you know, some of it's really simple, some of it's it's pretty extravagant, but uh it's uh it's just that kind of environment where we all come together uh in that situation.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: I can I can I've said this to you probably on this show a bunch of times, but I've told it to both of y'all.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: My daughter is not creating recipes in a sous chef in New York right now if it's not for my manager, my agent, one of our best friends.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: We all my when we all got together and planned our menus.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: We called it, it's it was a joke called Friday Night at the Azars, but it could be on a Tuesday because Friday I was usually on the road.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: So but we just named it that.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: They all came to our place.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: This happened before Nashville and Greenville.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: It happened, it happened in Nashville, which is something that we always loved to do.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm gonna tell you, these relationships became so strong, and we had so much fun.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody is planning the mini, doing what they're gonna do from the you know, appetizers all the way through the end of the dessert, the drinks, the da-da-da, all that.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I'm telling you, all our kids would be roaming the house up and downstairs and all that.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: So see would always be kind of hanging out, watching.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: And she was all into it, and thus she got the bug bitter, and she loved the idea of celebrating food together from start to finish.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: And that's why she's doing what she does for a living now.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: I I really believe is pivotal, and it changed probably the entire trajectory of her life, and it gave her something that she was passionate about, and I think I really think born to do, but you're not born to do things if it's not put in front of you at some point in some beautiful way.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: You talked about relationships earlier that you that that become because of these moments.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, don't forget kids are watching too while they're being in nurtured and mentored along the way, and look what happens.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's a it's a vulnerability that comes with fun that uh I think allows you to learn in the process.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking about Celia right now, and I'm thinking if she traveled the world uh with food as a as uh in her mind, she's gonna do nothing but learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn as she as she goes out.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: And she's gonna go, that was so much fun because you know, now I understand uh and anybody who watches any kind of food television, you this is this is kind of in your wheelhouse because this is it's not just that you can make the food, but you like seeing how other cultures approach food and so forth.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess what I'm trying to get to is fun is a denominator that drives learning.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've had anybody who's ever taught anything in any kind of a K through twelve, you got no choice but to make it at some level in you gotta have some level of engagement.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_03: Right, absolutely.
• 31:59
  unknown: Yeah.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: To make it to make it good.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I God knows I love those those professors who can get away with you know teaching.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're talking about organic chemistry, uh, Steve, and uh what a what a brutal experience that was.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so you don't want an organic chemistry professor who's who's making jokes all the time.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: You want somebody who's going to you know lay it out in a way that can be picked up.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: But 90% of the time, there has to be some component of engagement and fun.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, that was uh uh geology.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh when I took geology classes, I I just the the professor just would he'd walk in and he'd say some kind of a fact, and I would be, that's not impossible.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's not even true.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, then sure enough, it would be, and he'd he'd lay it right out there.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh Neil deGrasse Tyson has a new book out right now, and it's don't you dare go in fact about space.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: Mike's shaking his head, yes, and I'm going like, I don't know what you just said.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: Neil deGrasse Tyson?
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if I I don't know if I've got the new one, but I've got the previous one.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: Of course you do.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: But now now I had to interrupt because I want to know what you just said.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: All over again.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: Start over.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, Neil Neil deGrasse Tyson is my personal astrophysicist.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's the not a real man.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's not a real person, but go ahead.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: He's a lovely man.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: And uh anyway, he's got a book that's got 5,000 facts about space.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we just have it up on our coffee table now, and it's just amazing because you pick it up and you'll read one of them, you just go, this no, that's not even no, it's just it's not not even possible.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then you read more, and there it there it is.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I guess what I'm trying to connect the dots between the idea of learning, fostering curiosity, uh and and that's kind of what those books do, is they just sort of they, oh really?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: They sort of draw you in.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: They draw you in.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I am now, I'm such a geology freak that I'm no longer allowed to talk to my wife on an airplane because when I look out the window, I'm going, oh, look at these examples of parsed topography.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Clearly, there are limestone formations down there.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but you can speak to the city.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta tell you something.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_02: I want to know that book because that excites me.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: I want to do that, and I want to torture Gwen at all costs now.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: So we're we're driving up into your neck of the woods, and I and this is the part that drives me crazy.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously, there's a lot of beautiful trees, and you're in the windy things, and I, you know, coming up, going to Astoria, right?
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: Going up.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: And and then there's all these they have the big mill, the big um, you know, all the big lumber, you know, and all this.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh Jason and I always pay attention to that stuff.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: We're on the road together, and Jason will go, I could use a toothpick right now.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: Could you use a toothpick?
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Something reminding you of a toothpick, and these big, huge logs.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: There's a million of them.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: And that's and I start laughing because I see it, and I'm in awe, and I'm in awe of every tree that we're passing, going, look at the size.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: And then and then then but Gwen and the kids, I'll go and they'll go, you know, there's the Chevy Chase moment and vacation where they're going like this, and I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: You have to I'm gonna stop the car and make you stare at that.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm oh so I can't wait to get this book, but that's because I like to have fun.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: I like to have fun at all.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and I think, you know, I think the the the fun part, you know, you have to also incorporate humor.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, the the whole idea.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, Steve's talking about Cecilia.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_03: Well, yeah, I got to meet Cecilia for the first time in in June when I was down in Mississippi.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: She's wonderful, you know.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_03: But what I love about Cecilia is you can give her a hard time and she gives it right back.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, even even though I'd only just met her, you know, she and I are trading barbs back and forth.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, she's probably heard the podcast a few times, so you know, yeah, yeah.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_03: But she knows she understands that humor aspect, and it's it and it's the the humor creates the fun as long as it's done right, obviously.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you can take it too far as well.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_03: But uh you know, humor, humor happens to be my number one character strength when I do the values in action inventory.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_03: And as we know, you can use that too much or too little.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_03: And if I'm using it too much, I'm not taking anything serious.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_03: And if I'm using it too little, I'm taking everything too serious, you know.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I ask her from time to time, I don't do it all the time, but you know, once every few months, you you know, should I I need to do this, this, I'm working on these new recipes, and da-da-da.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: And she starts to explain them and she sounds excited.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_02: I said, You're having fun?
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: She goes, Oh, oh, I'm having fun.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, oh, it's fun.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_02: So just a reminder, don't forget you're supposed to love this.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: And she loves it.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: She loves it.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: And even when she knows she's gonna deal with criticism from her owners or executive chefs or something, when she comes in a new recipe, she takes it on.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: She wants it.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_02: You can just tell.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: And uh anyway, she's having success right now.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but it's amazing.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: But you talk about the creativity, and anybody that's in any business that allows you to create whatever it is you're doing, the just to wake up in the morning and create something that's actually gonna be used in the world.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_02: Man, that that's an amazing power.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's a gift.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: Not the power, it's a gift.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: And uh any, you know, and you guys experienced that when y'all were creating uh some sort of atmosphere of something that's gonna change the complexity and change the the the the total direction of a company when they need you.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: And you're having to come up and create something from within.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_03: I mean no, I randy, I mean I go back to our when we were all together in Mississippi, you know, a year ago.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: I I go back to some of the the I'll I'll call it your toy closet, you know, some of the some of all the various things that you've got, yeah, you that you use with companies.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you've got some great things that not only are fun, but they unleash some of that creativity.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: So there are I do I do love it when somebody produces an experiential thing that actually works.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when when those happen, and they're it's rare and beautiful when it happens, uh it's it's it's truly an amazing thing.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: We've produced very interactive games.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: We have a game called Launch where uh you are you have to find out information using probes and and it w I've run it run that with maybe 200 people uh in groups of ten.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you'll have 20 of these spaceships out there.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the one of the things I always like to bake into one of these experiences is that failure is an option, that you you can blow it.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: I really don't like it when you go into a situation that's geared where you really can't fail.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why I'm doing that.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so we'll have 20 of these teams out there running launch, and you'll hear people cheer, oh yay, we survived, oh yay, we just yay, and then we'll hear other people slamming the table and making recriminations.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you should I we just blew up, the whole thing just blew up.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and it was like that was as important to me to hear as the the cheers and everything else because it was it was all good.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was all yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, learning learning situations can be uh you know, we were talking about cooking.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: Cooking is probably one of the best ones, I think.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: And in Mississippi, um, you know, one of the things when Viking was there, I guess Viking's still there, right?
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: You talk about you're talking about not the cruise line, you're talking about Viking.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: They're in Greenwood, Mississippi.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're in Greenwood, and they're making yeah, right, right.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: So they were gonna, they were they have a wonderful hotel there, they have a wonderful facility there to do uh catering teaching.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's incredible.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: I totally wanted to bring corporate teams in uh to do nothing but cook together.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's awesome.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's so awesome there.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I my last couple kitchens have definitely had biking uh in uh, you know.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: Always cook always the cook the stove.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've got to remember loyal to our people.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_02: Fred Carl back in the day created that in the city.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_02: Back in the day.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Sexton's office, and he blew my mind.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: The alluvians, the beautiful hotel, and the you know, uh, and you can go do cooking classes at Viking School, cooking school, and it's pretty dang cool.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: As a music and culture ambassador in Mississippi, I am I implore you to take a road trip.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: Implore.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: Implores right?
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_02: Implore, yes.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it really is.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: I will I will say it was uh one of those trips, and the tour of uh Viking really blew my mind back in the day, too.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, come on.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: Really amazing.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: So this this idea of of having fun, I think, is uh so critical because fun also connects generations.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: So in the workforce right now, we've got somewhere between five and six generations working together.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily well, you know, we're starting to see Gin A is just starting to creep into the workforce.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: Gen Z is uh, you know, there in but all the way up to maybe not the greatest generation, but boomers.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's still plenty of using around out there.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you when you when you can find fun that crosses some sort of generation, that's one of the reasons food works.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah and it's one of the reasons why pickleball doesn't.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's gonna be good for one little narrow group.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the phrases we use a lot is this concept of challenge by choice.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you're gonna have fun, quote unquote, I need to have a sense of agency.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so we taught ropes courses for a long time, you know, where you'd climb up on the pole and jump off and all of that business and you'd do terrifying things.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it was all great and good fun, but it was crucial that everybody knew that they would only have to do that if they chose to do that.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so this idea of challenge by choice, I think, is one of the things that that uh that you can just generally use uh as an organizational developer.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and you get and you move away from that idea of forced fun.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you really you know, those those that don't feel like they're comfortable doing it, I you know, it's like putting me in an obstacle course.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, with two titanium knees, it's probably not gonna happen.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, no, no, no, no.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: But but you're right.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: There are things that, you know, uh you can get everybody involved in, things that you're just not the bottom line is this.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: What have I told you?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: My purpose, I love what you're talking about space and all that.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_02: I know there's a lot of space between my head that we need to work on and fill it up.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm doing the best I can and never catch up with you two.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: But the bottom line is, you know, everything that's in my orbit that that revolves around my purpose, I'm having fun with it all right now.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's I think that's the best way to send this thing packing.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I appreciate you guys making me aware of uh of the joys in our life right now, which are vast and we're so grateful for.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: So you got to be grateful.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, music is a big part of that too.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, I've you you you have uh uh serenaded me while I have cooked many a meal, noble Azar.
• 43:50
  unknown: Woo!
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_03: You were you were you were playing in the lemon drop Saturday night, Steve.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_02: I was ready to go.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'll play in time when you guys want me to.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: But look, I appreciate y'all so much.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_02: So this is so much fun.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_02: So Mike, you Mike, this is so much fun.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_03: Mike, you want to take it home?
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_03: I'll take it home.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: Well, again, today we've really talked about this whole idea of fun.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_03: Steve kind of wrapped it up just a minimum moment ago.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, really understanding how to do it well, uh, how to incorporate it into organizations, uh, and most importantly, how to get everybody involved.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think that's the key and really understanding that there's good ways to do it and there's not such great ways to do it.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_03: So uh uh really making sure that we're still doing it.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_03: And and as leaders, making sure that uh we're still having fun doing what we do.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, because if we're not, that's a problem.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and we're gonna have fun, fun, fun until somebody's daddy takes the T bird away.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_02: Let's take it home.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_02: ResidenceLeader.com, Randy Harrington, Mike, the monk guy barrel.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Steve Azar.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_02: Check us out everywhere you stream podcasts.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: Download us.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_02: We've seen it.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: You can bring us into your business environment.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_02: We uh we do have we do travel together pretty well, and uh we'll put on a heck of an event for you.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and hopefully that you will leave.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_02: We'll all leave better for it, all of us.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, thank you guys for tuning in.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_02: Reditz ResonanceLeader.com.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you next time.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: Can't wait.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_02: See you guys.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening to Resonance.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: Find us at resonance leader dot com.