Shh!!! Don't tell anybody we're having fun....

When was the last time that you had real fun at work? Not just enjoyed it, but felt a real, almost childlike glee in the process? Here’s the real question: is this because of the nature of your work or because of you?

While I’m sure that most of us would initially and perhaps involuntarily offer the response that it’s the nature of our work, is it really? This may be what we’d like to think, but is it really true?

My surmise is that it’s not. My intuition is that far more of us could have a great deal more fun at work if we were willing to commit to being more creative in how we conceptualize and then perform it.

Now I realize that the systems and procedures that’ve been developed at your organization must be followed to a ‘t,’ right? There can be no deviation, or it’ll screw up the process for producing the outcomes for which you’re accountable, correct? But, again, is this really so?

Let’s deal first with the objections like the above and then explore the deep and profound reasons why injecting more fun into our work is a great idea:

Virtually every organization has a system of processes and procedures by which we accomplish the work on which it’s focused; let’s take this as a given. Now let’s focus instead on where the real opportunity lies: in both the conceptualization and developmental processes for the work that’s then fed through whatever systems that accomplish its delivery.

For example, if your team were charged with developing a research report or whitepaper on a subject, how would you approach it? Does your organization have a set process for doing this? If so, within the current guidelines, how might you inject a bit more fun into the process? And if not, so much the better as you’re unconstrained in your ability to approach your creativity creatively.

As you conceptualize the themes that you want to address in this missive, in the brainstorming at the beginning, who’s come up with the best ideas (as ranked by your team members)? And the worst? Perhaps a modest and silly reward (of different natures) is due to both types of ‘winners’ … or the group can take five minutes to revel in just how bad the worst idea was and see if they can make anything of it … or there could be a brief contest to figure out what other bad ideas could approach the awfulness of the current ‘winner,’ etc. The point is to have a bit of fun at the conceptual stage before the ‘real work’ of the developmental stage begins.

And while you’re developing your report or whitepaper, what’s your organization’s prescribed process? And what fun can you add to it?

I’ve always thought that a bit of well-intended mischief – in moderation, of course – can actually be beneficial in the creative process:

I once tasked my team members with including the word “elephant” (in a conceptually appropriate way) in a research piece that was ostensibly about the superiority of Monte Carlo simulations in assessing investment risks. A few of my team members said that they couldn’t do it, which told me that they were very much unused to having fun while doing ‘serious’ work ... which actually means that they were unused to bringing their full creativity to bear in the developmental process. Other team members embraced the game passionately, and though truth be told I can’t remember the winner, I can say that the top several candidates were all worthy of selection … and not a one of them was of the easily predictable “elephant in the room” variety......

Which is the point: did we work hard in developing this research report? Absolutely. But did we have a lot more fun doing so because we were a tad more creative in our creativity? Absolutely, as well. In fact, voluntarily, we decided to gather for an all-day writing session and found that because our creative juices were flowing so freely from the fun that we’d embedded in the process that it only took us four hours to write a paper that we’d assumed would take three to four times longer. How’s that for a major productivity boost?

Which brings me to the ‘why’ of consciously choosing to inject greater creativity into your organization’s (and your personal) conceptualization and developmental processes: the data is both deep and clear that the more fun people have at work (read = fun at performing their work) the more productive they are. So, no, I’m not asking you to inject more fun into your collective work because you need to loosen up – although chances are that you probably do – but because it’s never a bad thing to be more productive than you are, and this is one of the very best ways to do it.

Although you, too, can google something like “relationship between play at work and productivity” and find a trove of confirmatory articles, I’ll simply highlight the diversity of such sources: from the more traditional – as in the Harvard Business Review, the New York Times and the Huffington Post – to some with which you’re likely not as familiar – hppy (“The HR & Employee Engagement Community”) and HRD (Human Resources Director Magazine from Australia). The point is that the appreciation for the positive correlation between the level of fun in the workplace and the productivity of workers is an international/universal phenomenon. If cutting-edge organizations around the world have identified this opportunity, could/should it be relevant to your organization?

(See Exhibit A below for more resources.)

Now that you realize that this is solely about increasing your organization’s productivity, I strongly encourage you to be creative – and, dare I say, have some fun – in figuring out ways to make your organization a more fun place to work. In what ways can you encourage your associates creatively to contribute more and more meaningfully?

Again, I’m not asking you to inject more fun into your work because you care about your organization’s employees and their enhanced well-being (or about retaining them longer), but simply because I want you to have them be meaningfully more productive over time. So, no, don’t do it because it’ll make your organization a far better (read = far more enjoyable) place to work; do it because it’ll make your organization far more productive. And I apologize in advance for the happiness and enjoyment that are the inevitable side-effect of such an effort: hey, admittedly, there’re some ways for employees to be more productive without having fun – and, over time, I’ve suggested those to you as well – but let's start with this way and then see if we can introduce some of the others thereafter, OK?

Seriously, don’t go injecting creativity and fun into your work because it’ll increase your and your colleagues’ enjoyment. Nope, do it ’cause it’ll make your organization meaningfully more productive, which is the most important goal, right?

I couldn't agree more....

P.S. And that huge trend toward gamification – making games out of otherwise straightforward processes – is a related opportunity: in what ways can you create more game-like opportunities for your associates – and for your clients – that’ll lead them to be more innovative and fulfilled in their efforts? The point is that there’re virtually endless ways to inject some fun into what you do currently with the goal of making yours a more productive enterprise. And, again, I apologize for all of the fun and creative fulfillment that you’ll have along the way....

(See Exhibit B below for more resources.)

Exhibit A

• https://hbr.org/2013/05/creating-the-best-workplace-on-earth
• https://hbr.org/2001/07/transforming-a-conservative-company-one-laugh-at-a-time
• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/jobs/in-choosing-a-job-focus-on-the-fun.html
• https://www.huffingtonpost.com/great-work-cultures/the-power-of-play-at-work_b_12011462.html
• https://gethppy.com/employee-engagement/10-ways-to-make-work-more-fun-and-increase-productivity
• https://www.hcamag.com/hr-news/how-play-boosts-productivity-and-creativity-in-the-workplace-235098.aspx

Exhibit B

• https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-outlook-why-gamification-is-serious-business
• https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/07/what-is-gamification.html
• https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/07/what-is-gamification.html
• https://www.verint.com/engagement/our-offerings/solutions/employee-engagement/gamification/index.html
• https://www.happiestminds.com/Insights/gamification/

(Photo credits: https://quotefancy.com/quote/293562/Jeff-Bezos-Work-hard-have-fun-and-make-history; https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/2016/01/28/9-ways-have-fun-work/79456248/; https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2b/c3/9b/2bc39b3ed35fcf68599afcb77894fc5a.png; https://www.conversationagent.com/2018/07/identity-communication-and-growth.html; https://medium.com/@Coonoor/how-to-celebrate-national-have-fun-at-work-day-tomorrow-e91208de14c3; https://synergydevelopmentteam.com/blog/2017/8/1/lets-have-more-fun-at-work; https://www.allencomm.com/blog/2015/09/13-learning-and-development-quotes-to-spark-inspiration/; https://www.businessinsider.com/easy-ways-to-have-more-fun-at-work-2014-10; https://thoughtforyourpenny.com/technology/interwebz/top-10-productivity-scheduling-apps-android-ios/?doing_wp_cron=1545663358.2038679122924804687500; https://www.pinterest.com/pin/85216617929333326/?lp=true/https://theworldlyrics.com/you-dont-inspire-your-teamates-by-showing-them-how-amazing-you-are-you-inspire-them-showing-how-amazing-they-are/; https://elearningart.com/blog/gamification-tips-karl-kapp/)