The Secret Sauce of Summer Traditions
The same people who complain about mandatory office parties will enthusiastically organize block parties that require twice the coordination. The difference? Ownership.
Watch any neighborhood Fourth of July celebration and you'll notice something remarkable: the same people who complain about mandatory office parties will enthusiastically organize block parties that require twice the coordination. They'll wake up early to claim picnic tables, coordinate potluck dishes through text chains, and somehow transform a random patch of grass into a community gathering that everyone remembers fondly.
The difference isn't the work involved—it's the ownership. When people feel like co-creators rather than passive participants, they'll move mountains to make something succeed. Holiday traditions thrive because everyone gets to contribute their signature dish, their favorite playlist, or their questionable decorating ideas.
Most organizational changes fail because they're designed like assignments rather than celebrations. Leaders announce the new direction, assign roles, and expect enthusiasm to follow. But enthusiasm doesn't work that way—it emerges when people feel their fingerprints are on the final product.
The magic of summer gatherings isn't in perfect execution. It's in the shared investment everyone has in making the experience meaningful. People forgive the burnt hot dogs and soggy chips because they're invested in the success of the whole event.
YOUR NEXT MOVE:
For your next change initiative, start by asking your team what they'd contribute if this were their project to plan. Give them ownership over specific pieces they care about—maybe someone designs the communication approach, another person tackles the training format, or someone else figures out how to celebrate milestones. When people help build the solution, they become its biggest champions.
The best changes feel less like company mandates and more like neighborhood block parties everyone helped plan.
Miguel Guevara
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