Ladder Coffee on Monroe Street in good ol’ Spokane is a beautiful place. You walk into a view of a wide-open space with windows on every side, natural wood tones, and greenery hanging from the exposed beams overhead. I used to be a barista at a place like this—ok, not this cool—so I’m liable to be somewhat of a coffee snob from time to time.
When I need a break from the usual auto-drip, something special, Ladder is where I usually venture off to. This is the kind of place where you can usually find 3-4 different single-origin coffees from Central or South America, or somewhere else. If you’re curious, they’ll talk to you about all the notes of caramel, dried fruit, citrus, and dark chocolate. And you can even watch them roast the beans right behind the bar. Plus, the owner and staff are super friendly and down-to-earth. It’s always nice to support good people.
Now, I love our office. If you’ve been, you know it’s also a beautiful place, too! Tall brick walls, open space, big windows, exposed wood beams, and, well…tons of greenery (thanks Tony!); I guess I’m noticing some similarities. But I digress. Every once in a while, it’s nice to escape to a seat somewhere other than my desk to do some deep thinking; a place to debrief and plan ahead.
Tony always talks about how his mindset changes when he’s on a plane. A different setting somehow inspires a different part of you and helps you see things from a different perspective. Maybe it turns on a different part of your brain…I’m no scientist, but that sounds right. So on this cold January morning, that’s what I’m doing, and Ladder is a great place to do it.
At The Woodshop, we find ourselves scheduling regular off-site meetings and brainstorming sessions. How is it at your place of work? Do you, at least every once in a while, get out to zoom out? Where do you go to break from the norm… is it a physical location, or at least somewhere within your mind, while you’ve got a few minutes between meetings or tasks? What helps you and your team broaden your perspectives? If it’s been a while since you’ve been there, take this as a challenge to carve out 2-4 hours sometime in the next 2-4 weeks, and let us know how it goes! We’d love to talk about it. Maybe over coffee (or pizza)!
– Evan
