🎤 Quotable quotes: “It is a happy talent to know how to play."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you live in a good chunk of the country, there’s a decent chance you recently woke up to one of the most magical sentences in adulthood:
“School is canceled.”
Meetings paused. Calendars cleared. Normal rules temporarily suspended. Grown adults found themselves drinking coffee slower than usual, while kids rediscovered snow pants that may or may not still fit.
Snow days have a way of sneaking joy into our routines. They interrupt plans and remind us that not everything has to be optimized to be worthwhile.
Ted Lasso would understand this immediately.
Not because snow days are productive.
But because they are human.
🏟 Why This Matters for You
Snow days give us something rare. A forced pause.
No optimization required.
No productivity hacks needed.
Just a collective agreement to slow down.
Ted understood the power of the pause. He knew that rest, play, and presence were not distractions from success. They were part of it.
Here’s what a snow day quietly teaches us:
1. Not everything has to be earned.
Sometimes joy just shows up. Let it.
2. Play is not childish.
It is restorative. The best leaders know when to be serious and when to slide down a hill on a trash can lid.
3. Flexibility builds trust.
When leaders adapt instead of panic, people feel safe. Snow days reward those who can adjust without losing their cool.
4. Presence beats productivity.
The emails will wait. The snow will not. Ted would tell you to choose the moment.
5. Life is not meant to be run at full speed all the time.
Even Premier League teams have off days. Muscles and minds both need recovery.
Snow days remind us that sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop trying to be productive.
— Nick & Marnie
Your tea sipping, snow watching, permission granting friends
More leadership musings
🍪 Biscuits with the Boss:
Icebreaker time:
When was the last time you allowed yourself an unexpected pause without guilt?
Bonus question:
If today were a snow day for your life, what would you actually do?
📚Beard’s collection:
📖 Brown, Stuart and Vaughan, Christopher. Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. Avery, 2010
Beard says this one is a beautiful reminder that play is not just for kids. Play helps us think more creatively, connect more deeply, and enjoy life more richly. Whether we’re sliding down a snowy hill or taking a much-needed pause from the grind.
🌎 This week in Here - There - Every F’ing where
Shore Leadership packed the house for How to Lead it Like Lasso - so many folks had hands held high to answer the question in the slide :)
And we were super honored to be the guests on Debbi DiMagio's Mastering the Art of Success podcast! Here's her Substack article on it.
Believe!
Nick & Marnie
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