Meet Alex Suchman
Re-connecting Alex was a little like coming full circle as we attended the same high school together! It warms my heart that our missions are so aligned in helping create more human-centric workplaces! I love that Alex uses PLAY to do this work – and it’s no surprise that just interacting with her makes you feel lighter. I hope you enjoy learning more about her and her company, and for a deeper dive, join our IG Live conversation on Talk About It Tuesday on March 29th, 2022 at 12pm EST.
- Business Type: Leadership, Team, and Culture Development, Experiential Learning
- Business name: Barometer XP
- Website: http://www.barometerxp.com
- Location: Based in Washington DC, but we facilitate experiences virtually or in person – everywhere!
- Contact: Alex Suchman, alex@barometerxp.com
What does your business do?
We help team members get to know each other, and themselves, better through play: our facilitated experiences spark conversations about how to build more human-centered, resilient, and inclusive workplace cultures and environments.
What should we know about you?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been driven by two primary motivators: 1) helping people live full and happy lives and 2) creative problem solving. My journey to find the career path that would both empower me to do both of these things while maintaining balance and sanity in my own life has included stops in mental health research, public policy, public health, business operations, organizational development, and leadership development.
All of this led me to one conclusion: work shouldn’t suck, and it especially shouldn’t suck because of poor team culture!
So after 20 years, the problem I’m out to solve now is transforming workplace culture so that respect, collaboration, inclusivity, creativity are the norm. And I do that through games and experiential learning.
Why do you love what you do?
My job is playing games with people, and then using those games to spark “a-ha” moments about how to be a better person, colleague, collaborator, and leader. Turning play into a learning opportunity is extremely rewarding, and I love that I get to be part of so many teams’ evolution toward healthier culture.
Tell us about your superpowers
My superpower is that I’m equally fluent in both left-and right brain thinking: I fully understand and appreciate the importance of the logic, analytic, structure-loving left brain and the creative, passionate, and artsy-fartsy right brain. This makes me great at bridging gaps and drawing connections between people and ideas that don’t seem related. My superpower allows me to bring to light the hidden strengths and possibilities within a team or company that will help them transform their culture.
What else should we know:
Starting something new is exhilarating, terrifying, and full of hope. But it’s also a hotbed for paralysis by analysis!
You don’t need a professional facilitator to have a meaningful play experience with your team! Play a game, any game, together and while you are playing, think about the following questions:
– How does this game make me feel, think, and/or act?
– How are other people approaching the game differently?
– What can I learn from how other people are approaching the game?
Then have a conversation about it!
You’ll be amazed what insights come to light, and how useful these insights are toward building stronger working relationships.
Is there a special offer you’d like to share with readers?
Absolutely! Every month I lead a free game and information session for anyone interested in learning more about what we do at Barometer.
We also have a free virtual card deck and survey to help you pinpoint your team’s strengths and opportunities for growth, to help you figure out your next step in building the culture you deserve.
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