Some learning happens in the moment, some comes in reflection and debrief. Living through the working out loud experiment last week was powerful and dense. After, I felt tired yet optimistic – that new conversations might happen, new organizational and cultural opportunities emerge.

This week, a few people have been ribbing me, why aren’t you still under the stairs? It’s just not the same Jonathan, without you peering out from the gloom…

A few more missed it entirely (March break holidays) and sounded genuinely disappointed (in theory, of course). A contact made the connection between what I did – a willingness to move into the open ground and dance – and the excellent first follower video I am sure many of you have seen.

Ah. A good connection to make. I was that weirdo that people are laughing at / annoyed with. Maybe, for the most part of the week, I was on my own, a virtuoso! Yet, here and there, one or two people came and danced with me. They made the weirdness normal, even for a fleeting moment. They made the experience and the process human.

Do I have followers? More difficult to say, because a) the process is not about fandom; and b) if people are following the path, there is a myriad of ways to so do. Someone went to share a pecha kucha with their team. A few others want to (re)connect with more sharing opportunities. A few more have been emailing me links and brief related tales (and I am gently encouraging them to share them out in the open!)

Did we reach critical mass, the tipping point where cultures collide and morph? Nope, for sure not. But that’s ok, because it was an experiment first, a learning opportunity, and work is learning and learning is the work, right?

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