When Fall begins to unfold, you also enter another season – Festival Season. It’s true. The temperature drops, the colors of leaves change, and people slow down. As they layer their clothes, they’re still looking for something to do. Fall festivals give people an outlet to fulfill their yearning not to just sit at home.
Our family loves to go to festivals. They’re filled with sights, sounds, and smells that are sure to fill your senses. On top of that, you’re surrounded by a multitude of people who are seeking festival joy as well. This weekend, our daughter and granddog visited so that she could get her fix along with us. We began the day in Hamilton, Ohio, taking in Operation Pumpkin. As the festival name implies, almost every aspect is pumpkin-related. It’s magnificent. As you wander down the cordoned off main street, you see gargantuan pumpkins next to those that have been carved and sculpted by pumpkin masters.
These aren’t simplistic carvings either. You see all types of faces, characters, and words in the pumpkins. If you saw these orange orbs laying in a field attached to a vine, you wouldn’t be able to imagine what these artists are able to create. With the use of a variety of small hand tools, small cuts, divots, and shavings reveal what was hidden just below the surface. Each artist has their own vision, style, and approach. We took pictures of several of the orange canvases so we could remember what they had become. We spent several hours shopping in the booths, grabbing lunch from a food truck, and just enjoying the entire experience.
You’d think one festival in a day would be enough, but that’s not the case. After a few hours of rest and downtime, my daughter and I ventured to downtown Cincinnati for Blink – A Festival of Art & Light. We were true adventurers dedicated to experiencing this next festival because the remnants of Hurricane Isaias blew in just as we arrived. We donned our ponchos and began trekking throughout several city blocks to see the various light installations. The rain didn’t dampen our desire to get around to as many of the installations as we could. We did make sure to take breaks because we both had taken far more steps that day than normal. (By the end of the day, we both had traveled over seven miles each !!)
Each piece of art was unique and vastly different from the others. You could find something to enjoy regardless of the design and appearance. Some installations were abstract while others were very straightforward. We were determined to make it to see Music Hall because we knew it would be awe-inspiring. We were right. The building’s architecture is stunning just standing there. An artist designed a piece that was interactive and projected across the entire face of this historical landmark. The ten-minute projection both engaged you and took your breath away.
We headed to our car after seeing this, soaked and exhausted. Our day of festivals had been more than we expected. Far more. When I had a chance to relax and contemplate all we had seen, I was struck by something. The artists at the pumpkin festival and throughout Blink had uncovered what had been sitting beneath the surface. Through their efforts, simple vegetables and stoic buildings became something far more than anyone had imagined.
This is just like working with people in our workplace. We tend to focus primarily on the surface of our people. We spend little time with them during our overcommitted days, and generally interact with them only when we need something from them. We don’t view our people as talent. We see them as those who should complete the tasks they’re given. Because we have such shallow relationships with others, we miss all that is ready to be unleashed.
After a short period of time, people whom we had identified as talent fall into the patterns of the organization. They become dulled and numb, and end up contributing the bare minimum because that’s all that’s expected. We need to stop this process of limiting our people. Instead, we need to be like the artists from the festivals. Take the raw material of the people we’re blessed to work with and work with them on purpose. Spend dedicated attention and time to shape, mold, design, and free the talent that has been aching to be seen and utilized.
As HR pros, we have to not settle ourselves. We need to be the artists who create. We need to push back against the norm of falling into a pattern of normality and make our workplaces an art studio instead. People want to be able to add their talent to all they do personally and professionally. If we were able to establish this, we’d have people flock to us just like attendees to festivals.
It’s time we took a new path. The talent in our organization is just waiting to become the works of art they were always intended to be. Let’s all be artists !!
