Puzzles & Warm Up Games

I picked up the ritual at FordLabs, where it was already part of how the team started its day, and I loved it enough to bring it with me. It started small with my current team and turned into something we're genuinely devoted to. What's surprised me most is how much it has taught me about the people I work with. Who goes on long tangents about whatever topic the puzzle pulled in. Who's quick to spot the trickiest tier in Connections. Who hangs back and lets others guess first, who jumps in fast, who lobbies hard for a wrong answer. You can't get any of that from "what did you work on yesterday."

The benefits I'd point to: more comfortable communication, psychological safety, a low-stakes way for the team to bond, and a small jolt of shared energy at the start of the day. People show up for standup ready to play, which means they show up for standup at all.

That FordLabs habit also bled into my personal life. The first thing I do after my alarm goes off is a few daily puzzles. The LinkedIn games wake my brain up: 562-day streaks on Queens and Tango, 261 days on Mini Sudoku, and I just started Patches as a warm-up game. NYT Strands is more of a throughout-the-day thing, and I've worked through the entire archive.