So let’s go!

I’ll start with the first idea:
- Slip pictures of your dog doing something crazy in your Powerpoint and say: “Oups! I only asked him to give me his advice on the slides!”

It’s your turn now. And get with it! Click on the Comments button at the bottom of the page and there you go!

Keep an eye out for new comments during the next two weeks. We’ll report back on them in our next Rendezvous!!!

See you soon dear Future Shapers and tomorrow’s Comedians! And a magnificent year to each of you!

The Future Shapers’ ideas for the creative challenge : “How to cultivate your sense of humor in your company?”

Tracy: I don’t cultivate it; that just happens! It’s very natural to me.

Alicia: Have a popcorn party in your office but forget to put the top on when you’re making the first patch.

Anja: Bring in a laughing teacher.

Luis: Work on perfecting your funny impressions of your customers or colleagues

Jules: Comment office absurdities to release the pressure

Luka: Very useful for budget discussions

Caroline: Wear two different shoes

Jo: Humor is a good way to stop a conflict

Karen: Learn a magic trick and perform it at work

Susan: Laugh first, then know why

Josh: Read or watch Dilbert!  http://www.dilbert.com/

Navy: I bring from time to time one of your son’s toy at the office: that makes people laugh

Henri: Wear a funny hat

Masaki : Or moustaches

Lydia: Watch funny videos with your colleagues

Adrian: Bring a strange object in a meeting

Ashir: Or put it on your desk

Jahnabee: Start your conference wearing a pyjama

Herbert: Have on your laptop gingles you play from time to time

Sparkling Rendez vous : Congratulations for all your great ideas! Find more ideas in Le Clin d’Œil Pétillant, the French version of Sparkling Rendezvous.

Barbara Fredrickson, Psychology Professor at the North Carolina University, elaborated the “Broaden-and-Build Theory of positive emotions”.⁽¹⁾

She showed videos to her subjects in order to induce positive, negative or neutral states of mind. Those who felt positive emotions developed better global vision whereas those who felt negativity were more preoccupied with detail. The positive thinkers also had the capacity to imagine more varied scenarios.

Alice Isen, Psychology Professor at Cornell University, did work  “showing that positive emotional states promote greater receptiveness to new information, cognitive creativity, flexibility, and a better ability to think out of the box when confronted with difficult problem-solving ”.⁽²⁾

Other researches have established that a positive attitude carries with it more confidence, peace and altruism. The positive spirit weakens the impression of difference between human beings and we can more easily see our common bonds.⁽³⁾ We become more attentive to ways for helping our friends⁽⁴⁾ and are more inclined to create new relationships.⁽⁵⁾

Dear Future Shapers, our challenge today is the following:

How can we develop our positive attitude?
How can we get to know ourselves better and be able to reinvent ourselves every day?
How can we make our life a piece of art?

Let’s pool our solutions, click on the Comments button at the bottom of the page and there you go! Keep an eye out for new comments during the next two weeks. We’ll report back on them in our next Rendezvous !!!

Interested in reading the studies yourself? Go to:

⁽¹⁾ Fredrickson B.L., “What good are positive emotions?”,Review of General Psychology, 1998,2, p.300-319;

Fredrickson B.L., “The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions”, American Psychologist, 2001, 56, p.218-226.

⁽²⁾ Isen A.M., Daubman K.A., “The influence of affect on categorization”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1984, 47, p.1206-1217;

Isen A.M.,Daubman K.A., Nowicki G.P., “Positive affect facilitates creative problem”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1987, 52, p.1122-1131.

⁽³⁾ Waugh C.E., Fredrickson B.L., “Nice to know you: positive emotions, self-other overlap, and complex understanding in the formation of a new relationship”, Journal of Positive Psychology, 2006, 1, p. 93-106.

⁽⁴⁾ Otake K., Waugh C.E., Fredrickson B.L., “Positive emotions unlock other-focused thinking”, cité in Cohn A., Fredrickson B.L., “Positive emotions”, op.cit., p.16.

⁽⁵⁾ Gable S.L., Reis H.T., Impett E.A., Asher E.R., “What do you do when things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events”, Journal of Personality and Social psychology, 2004, 87, p. 228-245

Cohn M.A., Fredrickson B.L., “Beyond the moment, beyond the self: shared ground between selective investment theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions”, Psychological Inquiry, 2006, 17, p. 39-44.

Dunn J., Schweitzer M., “Feeling and believing: the influence of emotion on trust”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005, 88, p.736-748

THE FUTURE SHAPERS IDEAS FOR THE CREATIVE CHALLENGE : How can we develop our positive attitude?

Sabira
Slow down and enjoy each action one after another!

Vincent
Live life fully at a quiet pace and in a harmonious atmosphere!

Isabelle
Don’t let the stress enter your office!

Adrien
I buy myself flowers!

Abdel
Everyday something new!

Doug
I surprise myself at least twice a week!

Gingka
Everything comes to an end, even difficult times! To remember that helps!

Luke
I love who I am, what I do, what I have. What else could I need?

Polly
I congratulate myself for my successes… and learn from my failures

Maud
I’m grateful for everything I receive, even very small things.

Nollan
Increasing the quality of my relationships: spend nice moments with my family, friends and colleagues!

Louisa
Enjoy pleasure and make it last as long as I can!

Bertie
Be madly in love with… everything!!!

Hakim
Take the time to do one thing at a time.

Ann
What about a nice massage from time to time?

Herbert
I take time to remember my best souvenirs! That’s great to live it again!

Jahnabee
I also enjoy looking forward a good time with family or friends

Iskra
I enjoy going on vacation very often during the year: just a few days from time to time helps to refresh body and mind.

Achir
I buy myself a little pleasure… every week

Caroline
Give thanks for all the people I meet, even in difficult relationships: they make me be more compassionate.

Adrien
One word is essential: share, share and share. That makes me so happy.

Joa
Imagine all the wonderful events to come! WAOUH!!!

Sparkling Rendezvous : Congratulations for all your great ideas! Find more ideas in Le Clin d’Oeil Pétillant, the French version of Sparkling Rendezvous.

That’s why I propose this creative challenge: how to better manage pressure?

Voilà, it’s your turn to speak up! All the ideas are welcome, from the simplest to the most elaborate and I thank each of you for contributing to the richness of this reflection.

To pool one, two, three ideas, all you need to do is click on the Comments button at the bottom of the page and there you go!

Keep an eye out for new comments during the next two weeks. We’ll report back on them in our next Sparkling Rendezvous.

The Future Shapers ideas for the creative challenge : How to better manage pressure?

Martti
I think Jose Mourinho has good points on managing pressure. The best way to manage pressure is to not feel the need to
have it. Do your best and have fun. Stay loose and limber. Usually the results are better that way.

“Pressure? What pressure? Pressure is poor people in the world trying to feed their families. There is no pressure in football”
“We play without the pressure. We play without the responsibility. Tonight we sleep with sundreams”
Jose Mourinho

Arty : Beautiful, thanks!

Karen
For me there is no better way than meditation: it makes me calm and controls my negative emotions. My mind gets clearer.

Laurence
Just sit down and sleep for 5 minutes

June
Wanta try deep breathing?

Theodoros
Drawing or colouring a mandala helps concentration & relaxation

David
Having a drink at the coffee machine

Liz
Listen to a few minutes of music on your smartphone

Tristan
Eat chocolate ice-cream !

Gustavio
Go out for a 5 minute walk

Mi-Phang
Putting on a few drops of your favourite perfume

Erwin
Share a cup of tea with your best colleague

Marloes
Have a good laugh with a joke

Johana
Even provoked laugh is good too

Eric
Why not get a little massage?

Gerda
Or make it yourself

Robin
Splashing your face with cold water

Hendrick
Do a sudoku or a crossword puzzle or play with my Rubik’s cube helps me to focus on something else

Claire
I usually go and see my boss to ask him to prioritize the different tasks.

Céline
Remember to relax

Sparkling Rendezvous
I tend to forget all my little tricks: for me, the challenge is to remember them!

Congratulations for all your interesting ideas ! Find more ideas in Le Clin d’Oeil Pétillant, the French version of Sparkling Rendezvous.

We can reduce our package volume, recycle it or use it again, but isn’t the packaging of the future a packaging which creates more value?

Packaging is designed to transport, to protect, to attract and inform the consumer, but wouldn’t it be clever to foresee its second life from its conception?

That why we propose today to reflect on this challenge:

What kind of smart packaging is for tomorrow?

To pool one, two, three ideas, all you need to do is click on the Comments button at the bottom of the page and there you go!

Keep an eye out for new comments during the next two weeks. We’ll report back on them in our next Sparkling Rendezvous before the end of the year.

The Future Shapers ideas for the creative challenge : Packaging of the future

Karen
More packaging that is edible like rice paper.

Donald
An edible cookie jar!

Antoine
Fertilizing and nourishing thing for the earth.

David
A building material

Chang
A building game for kids

Burt
A fabric to make cloth

Sparkling Rendezvous
Amusing packaging that becomes toys

Bao
An art material you could sculpt with water added

Sacha
An ashtray

Amine
A picture puzzle

Antonio
I use my coffee bags inside out for a vase

Angel
A packaging that turns into soap

Vicente
A cookie or spice jar with comic characters on it

Hugo
A nutritional information card or a recipe card

Clémentine
A trowel for gardening

Yasrin
Building blocks for kids

William
You can turn your packaging into home fire place logs, nice in winter isn’t it? And really thanks Marie-Claire for
organizing this very important and interesting creative challenge!

John
Jewelry or the raw material for creating your own jewelry

Thomas
Why not a jewels box?

Lucile
Turn it into paint!

Emilie
Writing paper

Enrico
A pull toy for my 2 year old child

Georgeo
A marionette

Gustavo
A rain hat and all-purpose hat

Alexandra
A DVD cartoon

Sparkling Rendezvous : Wouah! Congratulations for all your great ideas! So, dear Future Shapers and especially dear Packagers, now take these ideas and run with them! And, as usual, find more ideas in Le Clin d’Oeil Pétillant, the French version of Sparkling Rendezvous.

At first, don’t read the others’ ideas but give your answer very spontaneously.

And then, give a second response by spinning off the others’ ideas.

And most importantly, have fun !!!

To pool our solutions, all you need to do is click on the Comments button at the bottom of the page and there you go! Keep an eye out for new comments during the next two weeks. We’ll report back on them in our next Rendezvous, + 2°C, Paris invents itself.

The Future Shapers ideas for the creative challenge : Question of regard

Bill
A poster movie

Ann
A picture put on the floor

Francisco
The healing doors : you enter sick through the left one and go out cured through the right one

Maria
Those doors open horizontally to become diving boards ; the pool is just below

Qiao
In this house are living two twins : they enjoy practising trempoline together

Franck
The challenge is : you have to jump on the trampoline by one door and re-enter the
house through the other door

Hasna
In the Middle Age there used to be a drawbridge ; now you have to help yourself!

Burt
A post of teleportation for Mars

Ed
I plan to paint one in white for happy days and the other one in black for sad days

Sophie
I see an underground house ; the owners have enlarged the house and now the doors
of what was previously the ground floor are on the 1rst floor.

Gudrun
A strange building

Sparkling Rendezvous
An interdimensional door : should you cross the door, you’ll find yourself in another
world. Nobody has ever came back from there.

Laure
A finger-bowl

Olsen
A trapdoor for your mother in law

Jane
Doors from changing rooms (one for men, one for women) which open out above a refreshing swimming pool in glorious sunshine overlooking a beautiful landscape.  I’m not sure what the palm tree is doing in the swimming pool – but maybe there is a small island…  and this is a place to relax, think, dream…

Sparkling Rendezvous : Congratulations for all your interesting ideas! Find more ideas in Le Clin d’Oeil Pétillant, the French version of Sparkling Rendezvous.

Here, dear Future Shapers, is a little something to think about over the next few days:

- What can we do to maintain a tremendous atmosphere within our team?

- How can we build stimulating relationships with the other departments, our business partners, suppliers and customers?

To get into the spirit of things, why not organize a flash mob in your cafeteria? What is it about? Take a look here FlashMob. See all the sparkle and cheer!

To pool one, two, three ideas, all you need to do is click on the Comments button at the bottom of the page and there you go!

Keep an eye out for new comments during the next two weeks. We’ll report back on them in our next Rendezvous at the very beginning of 2012.

THE FUTURE SHAPERS IDEAS FOR THE CREATIVE CHALLENGE SPREAD THE CHEER!

Harry – Let’s go to the pub together after work!

Sparkling Rendezvous – Congratulations for all your great ideas! Find some more ideas in Le Clin d’Oeil Pétillant, the French version of Sparkling Rendezvous.

So my challenge today, dear Future Shapers, is how can we turn the boring parts of our job into something really enjoyable? 

To pool our solutions, all you need to do is click on the Comments button at the bottom of the page and there you go! Keep an eye out for new comments during the next two weeks. We’ll report back on them in our next Rendezvous, based on the theme: I’m fantastic!

THE FUTURE SHAPERS’ IDEAS FOR THE CHALLENGE HAVE FUN!

How can we turn the boring parts of our job into something really enjoyable? 

Adam – I do it as quickly as I can : fast and efficient

Ann – Breathe some fresh air

Qiao – I see this work as an opportunity to develop perseverance

John – I make jokes

Hasna – Think of the aim

Mary – I work in front of somebody beautiful to look at

Francisco – Improving our way of accomplishing it

Bill – Have a drink with friends afterwards

Sparkling Rendezvous – I enter a café, take 2 minutes to enjoy the nice atmosphere and then tell myself : OK 2 hours to do this work. Setting a certain amount of time does help me and it’s done !

Martin – I’m gone a be rich with that work

Doug – Celebrate dull days

Emma – Smiling does it !

Samuel – Dream of next holidays

Sparkling Rendezvous – Congratulations for all your wonderful ideas! Find more ideas in Le Clin d’Oeil Pétillant, the French version of Sparkling Rendezvous.