We had just finished the meeting. Two hours of discussion, done. A handful of action items for each of the four of us, assigned. The meeting wasn’t unproductive, nor was it acrimonious, but we were all tired by the end. Suddenly, that all changed.

Our meeting was in the d.school: a large, open, stimulating place, similar in many respects to something at ideo. The odd meeting hour meant we had the place and all of the fun stuff in it to ourselves. The key to our rejuvenation was in the corner: a big pile of toys.

Nerf darts are fun! We each grabbed a Nerf gun, a target vest, and plenty of Nerf darts. Weapons loaded, we formed teams and began chasing each other around the vast d.school space. Darts and laughter filled the air. It was great!

When I have a company, each employee is going to be issued a Nerf weapons. It will be like 1999, but with profits!