This idea is excerpted from Barbara’s book “CARE Packages for the Workplace: Dozens of Little Things You Can do to Regenerate Spirit at Work”,  ( McGraw-Hill, 1995).

The Idea:

Writing a poem or a song about a company legendary story or a company hero captures the spirit forever.  I believe that we are surrounded in every organization by unrecognized and unutilized talents that, if given support and permission, will blossom.  Often encouragement and ideas are all that is needed to unlock the creativity inside a potential musician or writer.

The Idea In Action:

I was deeply blessed to meet David Roth, a wonderfully talented songwriter and performer from Seattle, Washington, at the International Humor and Creativity Conference in April where we were both presenting.  After experiencing his deeply sensitive words and music, I shared with him “The Johnny Story,” hoping that he would create something that would be able to touch many lives on a different level from my writing and speaking.  This is the song he has written to celebrate Johnny:

A Little Something More

I run a local grocery store, a friendly place to shop
One day a boy came to my market looking for a job
He said his name was Johnny, I could see that he was different
I also saw a sparkle in his eye  and so I hired him.

I started him collecting carts and sweeping up the floor
In no time flat young Johnny was a bagger in my store
He took such pride and worked so hard it rubbed off on my crew
And just because he only did the best that he could do.

CHORUS

Johnny is a bagger in our local grocery store
Packing people’s food away as they go out the automatic door
Just a job ten thousand other people do
 But Johnny found a way to make it new. 

Johnny came to work one Monday grinning ear to ear
He told me that his Dad was teaching him to use the home computer
Typing this and printing that, whatever he had done
The look on Johnny’s face that day was brighter than the Indiana summer sun.            

A couple weeks went by and I began to notice something
It started in the parking lot after people had done their shopping
They were digging through their groceries and coming out with smiles
I made a mental note and came inside to check the aisles.

The store was pretty busy, must be five o’clock, I guessed
And here the line in Johnny’s lane was twice as long as all the rest
“No waiting on 1 through 4…” I said, they didn’t seem to care
“We want to be on Johnny’s line…” they said, and stayed right there.

That’s when I discovered Johnny’s magic secret brainstorm
A little note he put in every shopper’s bag before they went home
And every note had what he called his “thought” for that same day
And Johnny signed the back of each good thought he gave away.

CHORUS

Johnny is a bagger in our local grocery store
Packing people’s food away as they go out the automatic door
Just a job ten thousand other people do
 But Johnny found a way to make it new. 

I can’t begin to tell you how the mood in our store shifted
Whoever heard of coming home from shopping so uplifted
We see new people every day we’ve never seen before
And some folks say they come in now each time they pass our store.

Of course Johnny’s got the longest lines of any shop in town
He’s also got some syndrome that the doctors label “Down”
If you ask me how one person makes a difference any more
Come on by, see Johnny at our store.

CHORUS

Johnny is a bagger in our local grocery store
Packing people’s food away as they go out the automatic door
Just a job ten thousand other people do
 But Johnny found a way to make it new. 

(Reprinted with permission, Copyright 1995, David Roth)

Tips For Implementation:

Think about a story or hero in your organization.  Then begin a search for an “undiscovered” musician or writer to capture the special spirit of that story.