The other night during a New Communicators event idea discussion group, I had a conversation with Jerry Ketel and Tyesha Snow about the power of inspiration and the idea that all creative companies should subsidize – in some way — inspirational experiences for employees. Wouldn’t it be great if your employer gave you two paid weeks off specifically to seek out inspiration that you can bring back to your work and career?
This would be in addition to your regular vacation time, which you could fill up with all the family obligations, three day weekends, and other sundry vacation you wanted.
Inspiration Vacation is different; it would be a time to recharge, to read those books and write those blog posts, go to the Louvre, experience something and someplace new. It’s all about you, unplugging from the day-to-day of work and home life and thrusting you into a new experience or challenge. While the direct fruits of this inspiration might not be evident, I think the long-term benefits would be great. And I’m not the only one who thinks this. Stefan Sagmeister agrees, as he explains in this presentation at TED:
I’m no Sagmeister (yet!), but his idea about the benefits of a sabbatical rings true. It’s not a free-for-all time with nothing to do, it’s a structured time when you can take on ideas, theories, experiments, and experiences that working life stops us from exploring. Not everyone can take a whole year off, but even a couple of weeks a year would go a long way to keeping creatives creative and engaged in their callings. Employers benefit from happy and engaged employees, clients benefit from fresh ideas, and employees benefit from a change of pace.
I’m inspired to make more of my time off each year, to be more structured and seek out inspiration and new challenges.While I’m on Maui flying down zip-lines, snorkeling, and watching the sun rise over Haleakala at the end of October with my family, I’ll be plotting he course for my own Inspiration Vacation.