Yesterday, driving home from New Albany Church, I led us back; not back home, but back in time.
“My father owns a grocery store,” I blurted out from the drivers seat, “and in it he sells something that begins with the letter C.” Krits looked up from her iphone and said something like, “really Ding?” Yes, really…
The questions started coming from Tay and then from Miss. Pretty soon they began to come from Krits. Chris and Mom just listened in and picked up the nuance of the game. The puzzle solved by Tay, meant it was his turn to pick the word. From Church to Whole Foods and through the wait for Salmon that would grace our plates on Salmon Sunday Dinner, we played and we laughed.
We laughed HARD…
Krits was the best at asking the questions that led to the answer. She wasn’t, however, the quickest at extrapolating her clarifying question to spouting out the answer. Seated next to me in the front seat I constantly reminded her of lack of finishing the deal. We laughed even harder, now.
We pulled into the garage and finally Krits came through in the clutch. Victory was hers and we laughed some more. Actually the victory was ours. We had just invested an hour in the car and transformed the time commuting, if you will, into kairos. In fact, we had enjoyed this time to such a degree that the game continued after Salmon Sunday Dinner. Keturah, Jordan, Andrew, G-Mah Marie, joined Tay, Miss, and me in more laughs that lingered and lingered. And, we even learned that “wood” is considered edible by Krits. Who knew…
Yesterday, I was reminded that kairos moments are often best created when the intention isn’t there. All it takes is a little attention, a little love, and a willingness to play. Yesterday, the Scotts played a game together. A game. How silly. How juvenile. And, how easy.
Today, remember, the highest performing teams are friends. They play together. They laugh more than they loathe. The highest performing teams, remember, use rituals and games to re-engage, re-energize, and simply to re-late. Funny, huh…
BUILT TO LEAD 
This is on the mark! I am working on my doctorate in Organizational Leadership at Pepperdine University and my dissertation is focusing on the power of play to reveal innovative leaders. This is powerful stuff that adds to quality of life, and, for those hardliners, contributes to the bottomline. You may want to check out the National Institute of Play and see what Dr. Stuart Brown has done in this area, fascinating and fun!