joy (andat Workingwork at Joy) why butterflies matter in the business ecosystem What follows is a stepping stone; the start of my understanding of something that, on the one hand, I’ve lived with my whole life, and at the same time, I haven’t given nearly as much thought to as I could have. Fortunately, I get a lot of joy from learning, and maybe even more of it from putting that learn- ing to work in the world. In the spirit of synergy, helping others helps me at the same time. As progressive educator Maria Montessori once said, “Joy business value of joy.” All of which is why, when my mind got Science writer Hayley Ames explains, “An abundance of is the evidence of inner growth.” The understanding of which, going on the subject while I was out running the other day, I butterflies is often an indication that an ecosystem is thriv- right now, gives me a lovely little moment of the joy this piece immediately thought of reaching out to Rich. Later that eve- ing.” Same goes in business; the healthier the ecosystem is, is about. It’s only a matter of minutes before something else ning I sent him this email: the more easily joy can be experienced. I tested it out in- intrudes into this joyful space, but while it’s here, it’s most formally the other day—I went around and asked about ten I was thinking about the organizational ecosys- certainly making me smile. As we move through the months people on shift at the end of a busy evening what had given tem model and imagining that joy could be but- of this long period of pandemic, I’ve come to see that finding them joy during the shift. I had no idea what they would say. terflies—it’s well known in healthy, natural farms joy is even more important than ever. We haven’t—until now—spent a lot of time talking about joy and ecosystems that butterflies show up in abun- Unlike long-term visions or well-built buildings, joy is the way Rich and the folks at Menlo do. And, yet, I’ve realized, dance, and they’re also a sign of health returning fleeting. Like a butterfly alighting on a newly-opened blossom, it’s present anyways. What blew my mind in the best possible to an ecosystem. When an ecosystem is being re- it’s there to be appreciated for a few seconds, maybe a couple way is that they all, quickly, offered up good answers. And stored to its natural state, butterflies come back! of minutes. If we miss it, life goes on apace; the world won’t they smiled when they shared them. end, but our energy erodes a bit. If we notice it, we smile, our Rich’s response? “I LOVE that idea!” My reaction? Joy! His Conversely, when things aren’t going well—at work or in eyes light up, endorphins are released, we enjoy the joy. As email made me smile. Which, in the wonderfully sustainable the natural world—it gets harder and harder to find those poet Lisel Mueller (who passed away just before the start of cycle that joy can generate, still gives me joy right now. As butterflies, both in the literal and the metaphorical sense of the pandemic last year at the age of 96) wrote, “What exists, Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Sometimes your joy is the source of the word. I don’t know that any boss arrives at work saying exists so that it can be lost and become precious.” your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of that he or she is going to take away everyone’s joy. Most of Most moments of joy pass pretty quickly, but the best of your joy.” the world has become so accustomed to a joyless existence them, if we’re paying attention, become precious memories My partner Paul didn’t write a book about joy, but he did at work that its absence is generally unremarkable, in the we can carry forward into our personal and/or collective give a speech about it when he and I did the commencement same way the average city dweller fails to notice how hard futures. What follows is about mindfully making joy into an address at Michigan Stadium (you’ll find the whole speech it is to find a butterfly. active—and actively sought after—element in the story of in the back of Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 4: A The disappearance of the butterfly in nature is causing our daily work. Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to the Power of Beliefs in Busi- a lot of well-documented problems; the absence of joy in Rich Sheridan rewrote his story to make joy an important ness). Here’s a bit of what Paul said: the American workplace causes comparable issues in our part of his work, and its addition altered his life. I’ve known ecosystems. I’ve certainly seen it happen here when we Class of 2015, mentally pull up your “Must Have” Rich for at least twenty years now—he and his partner James don’t do our work as well as we should. In both cases, the list for success and scan it. Really, take it out Goebel and their colleagues at Menlo Innovations here in impact is not immediate, nor will it be obvious to the casual and give it a good look. Raise your hand if joy is Ann Arbor just celebrated their 20th anniversary. We’ve had observer. But for those paying close attention over time, at the top of that list. It wasn’t on my list when I countless conversations over the years, many in the Deli’s the loss of butterflies, and of joy, will slowly but surely lead graduated from this fine institution. Joy is not the Next Door Café over morning coffee. Menlo’s mission is about to disastrous results. With this understanding in mind, we typical yardstick of success. … So why would you “Being intentional about restoring JOY … to technology” and would be right to remember Lucinda Williams’ great song want joy on your list, and what is it, anyway? Joy “to end human suffering in the world as it relates to tech- “Joy,” in which she sings rather forcefully, “You took my joy, is a feeling so profound that it sits at the top of the nology.” Joy, Inc. came out in 2013, and it’s all about creating I want it back.” human experience chart. Just above love and just a joyful work culture. Interestingly, I realized that finding joy might actually go below peace and enlightenment. To feel joy, you The Menlo folks are longtime ZingTrain fans, and Menlo better if I approached it with “obliquity”; if we try too hard don’t have to wait until you’re old, like us, I be- and ZingTrain have many things in common, including com- to make joy happen, we probably won’t find it. The work is lieve you can have it now, starting today. mitments to visioning, Servant Leadership, getting away from more about surrounding ourselves with people and things hierarchy, and Open Book Management. Having reread Joy, The “feeling of joy” is, indeed, what I get when I see—or like music, art, poetry, great food, and philosophy—around Inc. and its sequel, Chief Joy Officer, two or three times now, even just think about—butterflies. I mean that both literally, which joy is more likely to appear. Like butterflies landing, the biggest thing I get from the books is the belief that we and also metaphorically when I imagine butterflies as joy in we need to be mindful, to pay close attention. Otherwise, the can take joy out of the abstract—a pleasant thing that’s mostly the ecosystem of Zingerman’s. I have come to understand opportunity to appreciate it passes unnoticed. about eight-year-olds playing in the park—and intentionally that the healthier we are as an organization, the more joy put joy to work at work. As Rich writes, we can focus, “on the will show up. coNTinUEd on next PAgE > isSue 286 . sep–oct 2021 1 jOy aT worK, coNTinUEd fROm prevIous PAgE All of which brings me to a Bulgarian American poet by the clearly, are almost inevitably intertwined. Even in the pan- I first started working to write this piece—begin to see but- name of Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. Stoykova-Klemer grew demic positive things have happened, and there have been terflies everywhere. Point out (or send a photo of) the but- up in the town of Bourgas, the Bulgarian “city of poets.” Like beautiful moments of collaborative, creative inspiration, terfly to your friends or family; their joy will be increased, Rich Sheridan, she’s both a software engineer and a writer. support from caring customers, and countless acts of gen- and yours will go up in the process as well. As Adam Grant Interestingly, when Stoykova-Klemer came to the U.S., the erosity to lighten my days and bring a smile to my face. Each writes, “Joy shared is joy sustained.” change in ecosystem impacted her self-expression and she is actually a creative call to inspiration, an appeal to slow With that in mind, we might consider measuring our con- struggled with her writing: “As soon as I stepped on Amer- down enough to appreciate the elegance of the air around tribution to the community by how much joy we bring oth- der! ican soil, I stopped.