Premise:
In the past couple of days, I have stumbled on to videos and articles about the importance of having fun in our lives. I have been thinking about this for a long time, so much so that my last book was called – “Being Happy“.
It seems that having fun and being happy are not necessarily the same thing. Or is it? And what does having fun got to do with Leading Transformations? Let’s explore this a bit further.
But before we go ahead, I would implore you to watch the videos.
The first video features John Cohn, sharing the importance of play.
Here is Catherine Price sharing her insights on having fun and how it is the secret to a healthier life.
The perception about leadership is that it is important and serious work. It is. The perception about fun is that it is frivolous. It is not.
As leaders, if we are not having fun, it starts to show in our work sooner than later. It affects our ability to be creative. Having fun at work by incorporating the elements of play gives permission to those we lead to do the same.
The elements of play when incorporate in our routine, help us open up to new possibilities, new connections and therefore increase in our ability to come up with new and creative ideas.
As Scott Eberle states in his article, play involves elements of Anticipation, Surprise, Pleasure, Understanding, Strength and Poise. Each one of these by themselves are great things to experience but when put together, have the ability to create flow states for those who are engaged in play.
Elements of play when brought to teams, enable them to bond better, improve communications and create a sense of togetherness. Teams that play together, stay together.
Play also has the potential to reduce the amount of stress we experience at work, which by itself is a great outcome. The side effect of reduced stress is improved productivity and effectiveness.
When we are having fun and enjoying the work that we are doing, the probability of our work being top notch goes up that bit. To add to that, having a culture where it is acceptable to have fun and play, is a culture worth belonging to. Engagement is high, creativity and ideas flow and overall productivity increases.
In conclusion:
There are many studies that have already shown us that incorporating the elements of play and fun within our work routines have significant positive impacts. So, as leaders, it is our responsibility to incorporate the elements of play and have fun ourselves and in our work so that those whom we lead know that it is not only okay to have fun at work but it is even expected to do so, while delivering high quality work.
