Fun Works

I enjoyed reading Fun Works - Creating Places Where People Love To Work by Leslie Yerkes. She suggests that encouraging people to have fun at work reaps benefits of increased productivity, creativity and employee retention. Sounds like a prescription for the healthcare system.

She's not talking about having fun socializing at work (although this is important). She writes about integrating work and fun into a "culture of fun". There are great stories about Pike Place Fish, Harvard University Dining Services and Southwest Airlines. All these businesses emphasize a focus on their customers' experience, and how satisfying and invigorating this can be for employees. Sounds suspiciously like patient/family-centred care...

I was particularly struck by her comments on taking risks in order to "harness and develop the full potential of employees":

The integration of fun and work requires expansive thinking and risk taking. When we utilize expansive thinking, we learn to 'think beyond the box.' When our thinking expands, we create the room for fun to come into our work. Only then can we embrace the risk of integrating fun and work.

To embrace risk taking means to try new things without fear of criticism, to be able to make mistakes and welcome them as learning, without fear of punishment. To be successful at risk taking, we must overcome our fear of failure; we must be able to bring our whole selves to work without fear of rejection. Once we are successful at expansive thinking, risk taking itself becomes fun.

Nothing great in history was ever accomplished without risk. The risk for great success is the same as the risk for failure - extremely high; the risk involved in producing mediocrity is extremely low. To succeed greatly, we must risk greatly. (My emphasis) Risk is inherent in innovation and innovation is the life-blood of our future. Lead the way into the future - don't follow.

Expand your thinking, embrace the risk of fun and work.