Living in Central Iowa, our “totality” for the solar eclipse was 83%. As I stood out in the courtyard of our office with some of my colleagues to experience the event, I was struck by three things: 1) How nice it was to experience and discuss the phenomenon with colleagues and friends. 2) How bright it still was outside, even when the sun was 83% covered, and 3) How ridiculous the warnings are on the inside of the cardboard eclipse glasses.

Let’s break these observations down further:

First, the office eclipse watch caused me to reflect, “How often do we connect with our colleagues outside of work discussions?” According to the 2023 Work in America Survey by the American Psychological Association, 94% of respondents said it is somewhat or very important to them to feel like they belong at their workplace. The same study reported a high degree of satisfaction with co-worker relationships, which means many workplaces are doing this well. But, to me, it feels harder than ever to create and maintain these connection points, especially in organizations with a high percentage of remote workers.

What is my takeaway? When you don’t pass someone in the hall and have a chance to just “catch up” it can be more difficult to foster and feed your work relationships, which contribute to the important feeling of belonging. We must be more deliberate about finding reasons to connect. Since there won’t be another eclipse for a while, food is always a great option. I think some lunches or ice cream breaks with colleagues need to be scheduled soon. (And for those remote, a virtual coffee works too!)

Now, turning to the eclipse itself, many of my fellow co-worker viewers made the same observation. It was surprisingly bright considering a very large percentage of the sun was blocked by the moon. I mean, 17% of the sun’s rays is a pretty small percentage, right? But when you consider the size and power of the sun, the lesson we were learning was, it only takes a little bit to have a significant impact.

As a young professional in the pork industry, I would sit in business meetings and think, “Why are they so focused on a 1% change in supply?” I quickly learned that 1% of a very large number is…significant! So, if you are new to the industry, be sure not to discount the power of small moves or events; they could be more impactful than you realize.

At last, we come to that crazy warning language. I promise this is not going to be either a criticism of lawyers (I am one, after all) or a shameless plug for why you need good ones. While I did have that thought as I read the warning to my colleagues, what really struck me was how obvious the warning was for the users. If you observed the eclipse, you know these glasses are impossible to see through in normal lighting. Yet, the warning read: “When using this product, do not move around, drive a motor vehicle or operate machinery.”

These are the consumers of our products. If they need to be told how NOT to use eclipse glasses, they probably STILL don’t know to cook their pork to 145 degrees with a 3-minute rest. We need to tell them. They probably don’t know that pork contains protein. We need to tell them. I know it is not always easy finding space on labels and packages for these messages, but we need to figure it out because if we don’t tell them, how will they know?

OK, these are my eclipse-related musings. Your turn! Did you watch it and, if so, what did you learn?

Musings Inspired by the Solar Eclipse

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