When it comes to culture, many people see it as something external to fix when in reality they are often the key to any
Let me take you back to where it all began. I was working in an organization where the IT department was situated below ground. Now, I'm not talking about a cozy, well-lit lower level. This was the kind of basement that was not so welcoming. It was gloomy, dreary and had an aura about it that threw off my sense of happiness. It was lit up with fluorescent lighting and the windows were barely big enough to let in the light most people would need to
It just gave me this sad feeling, and mind you, I'm a happy-go-lucky guy. For the first time in a long time, I was feeling gloomy. I could also see that others were feeling the same way, too. This wasn't just a case of the Monday blues; it was a full-blown case of workplace depression. I desperately needed to change this and couldn't go through another two months, let alone another few days, of experiencing a colorless environment.
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So that Tuesday night I left work thinking about how I could change my environment to make it more inviting, along with making myself feel better. I did what any self-respecting fashion enthusiast would do in times of crisis: I went shopping!
Venturing down the street to my local Marshalls had become an after-work ritual, a desperate attempt to inject some happiness into my day. For those who don't know, Marshalls was a well-known local outlet store that carried the latest fashions that provided me with smiles from time to time. Little did I know, this routine retail therapy session was about to change everything.
I walked into the store and went directly to the tie section. You see, back then I used to wear a lot of ties – usually with a neatly pressed shirt and pants. My wife used to call it my 'it uniform," which fit perfectly with my meticulous attire. I was doing it for years and felt the need to dress this way in order for people to take me seriously as a technical professional. So for me, ties were a necessity.
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Upon gazing at their selection, I noticed some sporty new bowties had come in. Rummaging through the few items that were there, a green checked bowtie stood out. It instantly made me smile and feel hopeful. That gave me life. Yeah, I know it was a bowtie, but something about it was appealing to the designer in me. It offered way too much joy for me to just let it just sit there. So I made the purchase, and on my travels home decided that I was going to go into work the following day wearing this bow tie to make me feel better about my life and brighten the gloomy work environment.
I showed up that very next day on Wednesday morning with donning this bowtie with a big smile on my face and confidence that no one could shake. And I'll never forget the first co-worker who I looked at: she said to me, "Hey, Antoni, what's with the bow tie?" I said, "Hey, it makes me feel good. How about you?" Her answer: "Yeah, I kind of like it."
As time progressed, I realized that it started making other people smile and happy as well. I thought, "Wait a second, I'm onto something!" And so I instantly decided that it was fitting to do this on a Wednesday, Hump Day — perhaps the most difficult weekday because it's right in the middle of the workweek. But once you get over that hump, it's all good, right?
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From then on, I named it Bow Tie Wednesday. And so I had to do a little bit of shopping ahead of me to accumulate more bow ties to refresh my smiling fashion statement. What was so extraordinary is that it turned around the entire department. Soon other people were also wearing bow ties, and some were even dressing up. It was contagious — and fantastic — walking into a place where it was no longer FINAL 3 gloomy.
This was not only a catalyst to every Wednesday; it was the catalyst to happiness for the rest of the week, as well as my entry into fostering happiness in the workplace. But what I also didn't know is that this was a positivity experiment that I ran. I had no idea. I just wanted to feel good at work. You see, sometimes the biggest transformations start with the smallest choices. Consider doing something similar in your own agency or make the suggestion to the clients you serve. It can go a long way toward helping forge connections, boost morale and reshape culture.
I didn't set out to change our workplace culture that day, I just wanted to make myself smile. But that simple green bowtie taught me something powerful: when you choose to bring joy to work, even in the smallest way, it creates ripples you never expected. One person's smile turned into an entire department lifting itself out of the gloom. That's the real magic of Bowtie Wednesday, reminding us all that we all have the power to transform our workplace, one small, authentic action at a time.
