What is a Piñata?

Today we say goodbye to our Japanese intern Satomi.
She has been with Lykki for the past three months as part of a work exchange program.  Her goal was to come to Vancouver and work in a business that had a great culture so she can learn how an office runs in Canada.
Today we threw her a Piñata Party. She had never heard on a piñata and when we told her it was full of candy and she needed to smash it, she thought we were crazy. After a few soft hits Rita jumped in to ensure total destruction. Check out the video.

Cheers
Calvin

Orphanage Visit

Today was amazing, inspiring and sad all at the same time.
While visiting San Diego for a board meeting we decided to rent a bus, drive to Mexico and hand out supplies to an orphanage.
We had a connection thru a friend that an orphanage about one our from the border could accept our donations. The ladies who ran the orphanage met us at the Costco at the border and we asked them to show is what they were in need of.
We loaded up socks, pajamas, toiletries, food, and as a little extra surprise they didn't see us buy - a bouncy castle.

After loading up the bus and driving to the orphanage compound we were greeted by happy and smiling little kids all running around. We set up a daisy chain of people and unloaded the supplies into the main dining hall. There we were treated to a delicious Mexican lunch of tortillas, beans and an amazing hot sauce that I think we should bottle and sell!!!
For the next few hours after lunch we played soccer, basketball and enjoyed the company of the kids. The bouncy castle was a huge hit and we loved hearing the laughter and cheering of the children as they piled in.

It was heart breaking to have to leave and it feels we were only able to make a tiny dent in such an important issue and cause. I have asked to stay in touch with the head nun and see how Lykki can assist with supplies we collect thru OneBox.
We are truly blessed in Vancouver and any sort of charitable cause is a great thing to be a part of. Please donate your time if you don't already.
Gratefully yours,
Calvin

Bowling makes good friends.

Near the Lykkiplex is a fantastic bowling alley and we take good advantage of it.
This outing was a welcome event for four new partners that recently started.
Nicole, Kirsten, Grace and Heather.
We think there is always an occasion to celebrate and get together at work.
Making friends at work is one of the most important aspects of staff retention and worker happiness.
Cheers
Calvin

An Amazing Story

Tonight I took a few Lykki team members to hear an amazing speaker.
Nando Porrado is considered one of the planets top speakers. His story has been made into a movie and many documentaries. but hearing him live was something special.
The talk Nando gave was exceptional, humbling and every person in the audience had at least one moment of tears welling up as they heard his amazing story.
I love bringing members of our team from Lykki to events like this. Some feedback I have received specifically on Nando was that hearing him was "life changing". It makes me happy knowing I shared the experience with others and it made an impact.
Even my 12 year old son came.

Cheers
Calvin

Flood!

Looks like the Lykkiplex has turned into LykkiBeach.
Phone calls at 7am on a Sunday morning are usually not good.
Our cleaners at Lykki had just arrived and saw the Lykkiplex was flooded with water pouring out the front doors of our offices.
Seems our water cooler line blew and water had been leaking probably for the entire weekend so far. There was two to three inches of water through the offices and into the warehouse. Luckily we didn't have much on the floors like computers or electrical so nothing was really damaged except carpet and the walls that soaked up water.
Luckily we have insurance and the crews were onsite to start the clean up process.
It's a shame we need to tear out all the carpet since we just moved in.
But it could have been worse so we are grateful.
Cheers
Calvin

Cooking for Ronald McDonald (House)

Sandy and 7 of her business friends recently went to the Vancouver Ronald McDonald House to prepare a meal for 80 people. I didn't know this program existed but is sounds amazing.
You can call Ronald McDonald House and ask for a day you want to come cook for the families who are staying at the house that day. You create a menu, bring the groceries, prepare and serve the food and most importantly - clean up.
The real reward Sandy said was to sit and have dinner with the families and some of the sick children and learn their stories. She said many times there was not a dry eye at the table.
An amazing experience that I'm sure we will do again with Lykki staff.
Cheers
Calvin

Do you Scrum?

I just read a game changer book: Scrum by Jeff Sutherland. We implemented it at Lykki in one departments and within a few weeks there were scrum boards all ofer the office and in most departments. I have never seen something get such quick buy in and adoption for a new process. We are always trying new ideas and this one looks to be a winner.
I'm going to let you read more about Scrum here  since this blog post could get pretty long. Try it out. I promise it will be worth your time.
Cheers
Calvin