Engagement lessons from Christmas

What can we learn about engagement from Yuletide, Christmas and Hanukkah?

Some thoughts:

1. Let a thousand antlers bloom

The diversity of Christmas celebration is fairly broad. There are multiple myths, stories and traditions that merge together under one umbrella — Jesus' birth, Father Christmas, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, The Grinch, Yuletide, Hanukkah, and just plain Christmas, all converging.

Things suffer when we try to force them into strict observance. The most sticky things are sticky because they take on a life of their own — they grow. They are highly adaptive. So let a thousand antlers bloom.

2. Let people participate

These winter festivals are more engaging than say, Easter, because there is far more participation. We exchange gifts, we sing songs, we wear awful jumpers, we make particular foods, and so on.

Easter we tend to observe. But Christmas is something we participate in.

3. Traditions convert the global into the local

This season gives us a great example of how it is in family traditions that the global festival is adapted into localised meaning.

The most sticky things can — and should — be adapted in ways that make them customised to the person on the ground. I'd be worried if every team in an organisation operates identically, without something that is done slightly uniquely for them. It is in the customisation that we make things our own.

4. Don't forget to reflect on the meaning — the WHY

We all remark on how we forget the meaning of Christmas. In organisational life, we can easily forget WHY we are doing things and what it MEANS.

Don't let the event become a pantomime. Flow down and help people reflect on what this really means.