By Jordan Stewart
MISSION – Brian Fullen’s playful initiative at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Nixyáawii Governance Center is helping brighten the days of his fellow employees.
Recognizing the power of surprise and delight, the Environmental Health & Safety specialist during his breaks strategically hides small colorful figurines inside and outside the building, hoping to bring smiles to co-workers and offering a break from the daily grind.
“I hide them in all parts of the building that most people can go into,” Fullen said. “I don’t go into private places or anything, but hallways, public areas, stairwells, basement, storage area. The walking path is where I might generally hide the ones that more people want and…it makes it a little bit harder to go and find them. But it also gets people out, gets them up from their desk and go walk outside around the building.”
He said the idea started this past fall at home thanks to a child he knows who enjoys searching for items. This led Fullen to buy tiny ducks and hide them for the child to find. Then in November he decided to bring them to work, hiding 200 around the governance center the first day.
“I just noticed everybody started looking around,” Fullen said. “I’ll go out here to the lobby and you’ll see people looking around and searching and looking in all the nooks and crannies, and I just noticed people started smiling. There’s an actual Facebook page on it now, and people will find them, and they post their finds, their treasures that they get. Or I post, like, if I’m hiding certain ones that day, I’ll take a picture, but there are other people hiding them in the building, too. It’s just kind of taken off like wildfire.”
With more employees have joined in hunting and hiding items, people are finding a variety of figurines such as chickens, rabbits, squids, dolphins, food items, Bigfoots and Chewbaccas. Fullen said he’s also got more creative with his hiding, ensuring the search remains engaging.
“I was here at 6:30 this morning hiding figurines already, and there were people here at 6:45 already looking for figurines,” he said. “The most common place will be down in the main area, the main public lobby, but I try to hide them all over, inside and outside, to keep people guessing. Some people have really figured out my favorite spots, so I’m trying to change it up.”
To Fullen, the miniature figurines aren’t just trinkets but moments of levity and opportunities to connect with colleagues in a fun informal setting. The hide-and-seek activity has fostered a sense of community and camaraderie within the government center, and Fullen recently upped the ante with the introduction of eggs, which come with a perk – free Dutch Brothers cards.
For Jessica Wright, Tribal Court office assistant/information technology liaison, the daily search for miniature figurines has become a welcome disruption of her routine, injecting a sense of playfulness into her breaks.
“Well, I look for them because it’s fun,” she said. “It gives me something to do. It gets me out of the office, a good walkaround and it makes me laugh…I collect them. I definitely don’t keep two of the same ones, so if I have two of the same, I go and hide the other one.”
Overall, Fullen said he hopes the thrill of hunting or hiding the figurines just makes people smile.
“I just hope it makes their day. A lot of people love it, and there are a few people I know that can’t get out of their offices, so I’ll go to their office and say ‘here, pick one of these out,’” he said. “And it just makes them happy. It’s fun seeing everybody smiling, and it just brings up the morale.”
