If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails by Barbara Corcoran, Bruce Littlefield Page A

to crack. Our panicked feet raced toward the shore, every man for himself, as the splitting ice chased us from behind. What could have only been two minutes at the most felt like a ten-mile run.

We all groped at Esther's legs as we clambered up onto the boat-house floor. We were huffing and puffing from our near-death experience. "You okay? You okay? You okay?" we chorused, as we scanned each other's faces. I looked around at my nineteen exhausted speed skaters, pulled off my hat, and started to laugh. With that, the whole boathouse rocked with laughter and I knew we had just become the best team in town.
    MOM'S LESSON #11: Go play outside.
    DAD'S BEST LESSON: Fun is fun.

    THE LESSON LEARNED ABOUT HAVING FUN
    Conducting business as usual always results in usual business, but playing together creates extraordinary business.
    Our weekend away at Whaley Lake not only built cohesiveness, it also made a community out of twenty vastly different personalities, and I instantly recognized that if we continued to play together, we could become the strongest company in town.
    This is what I've learned about having fun:
    1. Happy people work better.
    It's hard to leave good feelings back on the playing field. Inevitably, they find their way back to the office.
    2. Fun makes people laugh, and you can't help but like someone who's laughing.
    People like each other better while they're playing. Playing together unites differences and breaks down barriers between people. It's also the best cleanser for bad feelings, old grudges, and ill will.
    3. Only in the context of fun do people ^et the chance to see their colleagues beyond their usual work roles.
    Fun lets people get to know their colleagues better, learn about their families, their kids, and where they're from. By socializing, people discover other common grounds beyond the workplace.
    4. Playing is the best way to bring rivals together.
    Strong salespeople are free agents, independent by nature, and often don't naturally make good teammates. But allow two rivals to vent their competitiveness in a spirited game, and they become a team.

    5. If you want good ideas for the office, go play outside.
    All of our best new business ideas were thought of while outside the office—our advertising campaigns, our publicity ideas, office perks, and whole new ways of doing business. The things we discovered while playing outside were all brought back to the office, like free massages and manicures, free soft drink coolers, Ping-Pong tables, and yoga classes. Playing outside always offers a fresh perspective and always stimulates new ideas.
    TIPS FOR PLANNING GOOD FUN
    1. Play on company time.
    Most salespeople subscribe to the "Make it while you can" philosophy and run themselves ragged trying to do so. Planning for fun during company time gives the salespeople permission to take a day off and to do it without guilt.
    One of our most successful annual sales meetings was scheduled to last three hours. But ten minutes into the meeting, I surprised everyone by inviting them next door into a private movie theater where together we watched the inspiring movie Pay It Forward.
    Even our management retreats are scheduled during the workweek. They get three days away from the office at a luxury resort, and they come home with a tan, deepened friendships, renewed energy, and new ideas for the business. And while they're away, were able to discover new management talent because other salespeople step up to the plate acting as substitute managers.
    2. Surprise them!
    Our company quickly outgrew the sleepovers at the Whaley Lake house. When I bought the next house, the smallest house

    on the best block with a lot of Land, we began to bus two hundred, three hundred, then four hundred people up for midweek picnics. At our first picnic, there was a sixty-foot hot-air balloon waiting in the backyard to give everyone a ride. We formed cheering and rescue squads when we faked a few problems in getting the balloon