Specktacular Specktackular: How an iOS Glitch Turned a Giraffe into a Movement
There comes a point in every completely normal workplace initiative when you realize things may have gotten slightly out of hand.
That point was somewhere between the first documented decoy sighting and the establishment of a dedicated Decoy Pond.
Or perhaps it was the creation of a Serengeti Sanctuary.
Or the magnetized girafflings.
Or the official Department of Giraffe Affairs posters.
Honestly, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment.
To answer that, we have to go back to the beginning.
The Glitch and the Recurring Giraffe Algorithm
This origin story begins with a software update.
A tale as old as time: about ten years ago, I ran my iOS software update overnight and woke up to a new profile picture of a giraffe on my phone.
Not just any giraffe.
A giraffe with an attitude and absolutely no desire to explain how it got there.
And I loved him.
So much that I began to fear another software glitch might kidnap him in the middle of the night.
So I did what any reasonable person would do.
I saved him to the cloud.
This, of course, was interpreted by the internet as a request for more giraffes.
A photobombing giraffe appeared.
Then a mother giraffe kissing her baby.
And a downward shot of a baby giraffe whose head was so large it obscured the rest of its body.
I saved them all and told no one.
The Instigator photographed by Nicholas Free
What’s for dinner?
The Thanksgiving Giraffe
Fast forward several years.
During a casual conversation with a colleague, I asked about his Thanksgiving plans.
He responded by sending me a picture of a dapper giraffe contemplating dinner while peering into his refrigerator.
As one does when the opportunity arises, I shared my giraffe archive.
There was a chuckle and the conversation ended, but the story did not.
As I confessed my deepening love of giraffes, one colleague shared that giraffes were her favorite animal because they occupied a rare position in nature:
At the top of the food chain.
But not as predators.
I respected that.
Spotting Uncle Speckles
Two years later, during one of our daily morning meetings, one colleague casually asked another whether he had received the latest picture of Uncle Speckles.
I froze.
Uncle Speckles?
As soon as the meeting ended, I called my colleague.
He explained that whenever he sees a giraffe, he takes a picture of it and sends it to our other colleague.
Naturally, I asked why.
Years earlier, he had asked that colleague whether he had any pets.
The colleague replied that he did not.
Just this giraffe.
The same dapper giraffe.
Apparently, Uncle Speckles had been living a whole other life.
And we wanted more.
First sighting
Initial Game Launch
The first version of the game was simple:
If you see a giraffe, take a picture and send it to our colleague.
That was it.
No points.
No prizes.
Just a workplace-wide invitation to notice giraffes in the wild and report back.
I created a flyer using the giraffe pictures collected so far and shared it with another colleague.
He said, “You know everyone’s going to want this to be a game, right?”
I think I saw a glimmer of gold in his eyes, a remnant from our March Gold Rush coin hunt.
I responded, “Let me think about it.”
Girafflings and Decoy Ducks
I found tiny resin giraffes and ducks disguised as giraffes. To make them easier to hide throughout the building, I was going to magnetize them.
I showed a picture of the giraffes, now known as “girafflings,” to my colleague, and he approved.
When I showed another colleague, he paused and asked if I had already started hiding them.
I had not.
A few hours later, the same colleague told me that while he was in someone’s office, he caught something yellow on her bookshelf.
It was a duck. Run-of-the-mill yellow rubber duck.
His disappointment revealed that decoys would have to be a necessary element of the game.
A game that had apparently launched before the pieces had even been hidden.
Serengeti Sanctuary and Decoy Pond
Our Gold Rush coin hunt taught us that people wanted visible evidence of participation.
Scoreboards highlighting leaders.
Prize tables.
The gold coins from the Gold Rush had lived in a small cardboard box in a desk drawer.
The girafflings and decoy ducks deserved better.
Girafflings would be returned to their herd at the Serengeti Sanctuary.
Ducks would be returned to Decoy Pond.
Both would serve as scoreboards: a watering hole and a sanctuary for the collective.
Rules and Prizes
We developed just enough structure to make the nonsense official:
Girafflings: 5 points
Decoy ducks: 1 point
Uncle Speckles sighting: 25 points
Real giraffe sighting: automatic first place
Prizes could involve satellite sanctuaries or a pick from the treasure chest.
Satellite sanctuaries would require proper registration.
Because even nonsense needs paperwork.
Launch Your Own Specktacular Movement
The rules do not have to be complicated.
Pick a creature.
Invite people to notice it.
Create a place where discoveries can accumulate.
Then let people surprise you.
Because the best workplace traditions are not always planned.
Sometimes they begin with a glitch.
Sometimes with a gold coin.
Sometimes with a tiny giraffe.
And sometimes, if you’re lucky, they become a shared story worth retelling for years to come.
