#289 doodles

I have my opening screen on the web set to the Google homepage.  This started as an act of convenience, as I like its simplicity and ease of use.  But what I love is how, every now and then, there is an element of surprise as they add "doodles" -- fun graphics, animation and colors to commemorate a special event.

There is a whole Doodles "museum" at www.google.com/doodles.  According to the site, "doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists."  Undoubtedly there will be something for St. Patrick's Day today, but last week there was a special homepage to acknowledge what would have been Douglas Adams' 60th birthday.  This month alone, they have commemorated Vladimir Vernadsky's 150th birthday, Evert Taube's 123rd birthday, Andre Le Notre's 400th birthday and Joseph von Eichendorff's 225th Birthday.  (Who are these people you ask?  I didn't know either, so, of course, I "Googled" it to find out.  Genius!)  

An intern was actually appointed as the first "chief doodler", but now an entire team of designers and engineers have the responsibility for the 1000+ doodles that have appeared across the globe. They accept suggestions from users and are also sponsoring a K-12 contest to design them.  

And, of course, there is a Doodles Store so you can have your favorite doodle on posters, cards, stamps, skate boards, office products, clothing and more.  Doodles are country-specific and commemorate special people and holidays for 17 countries!

I think we can all take a lesson from Google.  Mostly, be about good service and a quality product, but infuse it with fun to delight your employees as well as your clients.  A little doodle can bring a smile to many -- and teach some history too.  Now that's smart fun!

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com