Why is fun an antidote?
Because two things drive out fear in a workplace: faith and fun and as the tough economic times continue, entitlement (if I show up I deserve a check.) shifts to fear (Will I have a job tomorrow?). Your great people are less affected. They know that security is in themselves and they’ll have no problem getting another job. When an environment of entitlement exists there is no stress, but there’s also little productivity. As soon as that environment disappears it is replaced by fear – which causes high stress – and also little productivity. That environment can also cause top people to leave. They don’t have to put up with that environment. When you put clear goals and accountability in place, support people – and then consistently add little celebrations, some humor, and recognition in the environment on a consistent basis – productivity and profits come back – often dramatically.
What if executives and managers don’t believe that fun and work mix?
Then their competitors are glad that they’re about to stop reading this interview! They want you to think that the idea of fun reducing stress and increasing productivity in these tough economic times is ridiculous? They want your organization to simply try to survive, rather than thrive in these turbulent times. Your competitors are silently cheering that you’ll continue to believe that. And they will continue to implement fun in the workplace and reap the productivity benefits.
What proof do you have that fun at work actually raises productivity and profits?
The research is in — and it’s contained in an entertaining way within the book. And we list more than two dozen companies like Southwest Airlines and Microsoft where fun at work is part of the culture. These companies produce phenomenal results year after year. Did you know that Colleen Barrett, who recently retired as CEO of Southwest Airlines sent over 3,000 handwritten notes every month for nearly 30 years thanking employees for specific things they had done to improve the passenger experience for Southwest customers?
What Bob Workman discovers in the book is that there are simple ways to prove the benefits to individuals and the organization for implementing fun at work. In the appendix we provide the tools to create a baseline – and then measure results over time. After all it doesn’t matter if it works everywhere else – it matters that it works where you work!
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