Greetings.  While snow and winter continue along the east coast of the U.S., in India it's just about time for Holi.  This is the first Hindu festival of the year and a remarkable celebration of spring, fertility, the harvest, and the ancient legend of Prahalad and Holika–a story of the triumph of good over evil.  But the festival is best known for its sense of joy and unique ability to break down the barriers that often separate people.  And for the tradition of throwing and spraying brightly-colored paint at each other.  A dazzling array of colored powder and water directed at friends, relatives, acquaintances, and even total strangers that creates a wild swirl of blues, greens, yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, and other hues.  And in the process, makes everyone an integral part of a veritable rainbow of color.  Young and old.  Men and women.  Rich and poor.  People of all different faiths and ethnicities.

Colors that liberate us from other peoples' perceptions of who we are.  Colors that enable us to see everyone as a joyous equal–with an equal smile, an equal voice, and an equal ability to express our innate creativity.

Which challenged me to imagine what it would be like to celebrate this festival in all of our companies and organizations.  The ones with their own "caste" systems of rank, position, influence, longevity, bureaucracy, and politics.  The ones where we talk about the value and equality of ideas but rarely tap the genius in all of our people.  The ones where we too often struggle to innovate and grow but rarely bring our brightest and most diverse palette of thought to bear. 

A holiday from half-way around our ever-shrinking world that strikes at the heart of what it means to be human… 

We win in business and in life when we paint a new picture together in fresh colors that everyone can share.  And when we think of ourselves as the canvas–able to change, adapt, innovate, and grow.  Imagine the possibilities!

Cheers!

P.S.  To see more photos of Holi festivities, click here.