The little brown box

A few weeks ago I attended a Stella & Dot jewelry party and a few days later my wonderful new purchases arrived - they came in a plain little brown box, nothing special or unusual about it on the outside at all.

BUT WHEN I OPENED IT - WOW!!

Inside was decorated with a gorgeous vibrant green and white design, even the packing material had a little stylish stripy tissue wrapped around it, sealed with a delightful sticker and all topped off with a thank you note - not a packing slip as is traditionally the case.

The boxes that contained my new jewels were cute too - with a cheeky little note on each "you look gorgeous!" well that's enough to start your day off well isn't it? No doubt about it, the Stella & Dot people 'have it down' in terms of customer experience, they surprise and delight at every turn and as a customer I will tell you that their efforts make me love them even more!

So what does my Stella & Dot obsession have to do with Joy, Love and Work?

Well I think quite a lot! I'm struck by the plainness of the little brown box and how from the outside it appeared to be nothing unusual, but on the inside the experience was very different, no detail had been missed to ensure that my experience was one of surprise and delight, joy and love.

Some of our work is like this, from the outside it looks plain and uninteresting but WE are the creative agents of Joy and Love who can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. I see this phenomena everyday in my work with the Greatest Coffee Company On The Planet, not only our drinks amazing but even our cups are extraordinary! each one designed with clever little sayings ('bou-isms) to make guests smile & chuckle. I also see the ordinary into extraordinary phenomena with the creativity of my Mummy friends who turn a regular old 'mac 'n' cheese & hot dog' meal into an adventurous and kiddy-thrilling octopus treat!

So I challenge us to create moments of Extraordinary Surprise and Delight (ESD's!) in the ordinary everyday routines of work so we can THRILL our customers / children / patients / students and  colleagues and release ever levels of increasing Joy & Love into our work and the world!

As Winston Churchill one said "You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give"


Let's go and live life.