One of Dave Longaberger’s principles of management was that “25% of your workday should be fun.”
Dave was a visionary businessman who created Longaberger Baskets into a $1 billion dollar enterprise. While you may not think this is groundbreaking now, the owner of a manufacturing facility generally wasn’t yelling about “fun” from the mountaintops at the time. But Dave felt it was important for culture and productivity.
The concept was simple. Work shouldn’t suck.
Don’t get me wrong. There are times when work is hard. That’s why we get paid to be there. But it doesn’t have to be torture. And what Dave knew is that when we engage the “fun” side of our brain, we are more creative. Bringing that side of our personality to work doesn’t decrease productivity…it increases it. Oh…and if we are having fun at work, we are more likely to keep coming!
So if you believe that having a fun atmosphere increases productivity (and I do), it begs a simple question. What are you doing to create a more fun atmosphere? I mean, it’s great to allow for fun. If you are not Ebeneezer Scrooge and don’t yell at folks for laughing…that’s a start. But it’s hardly creating fun for your team.
What are you doing to intentionally create 25% of fun?
I was thinking of Dave’s principle this morning because I am fired up to go to work today. It’s Monday…and yet here I am. Why? There are a couple of reasons. First, we have a full staff meeting today. During this pandemic, it’s been more difficult to get everyone together…and we generally like that. It’s good to see everyone’s faces…in person.
But second, I have a fun activity planned for the team. They don’t just have to listen to me ramble on about sales goals (though they will hear that too). I have purchased branded Pickleball sets for everyone on the team (yes we sell those). After the staff meeting, we are going to head to Kids America and learn to play! I can’t wait!
Now I don’t know what creative ideas we will come up with today. I can’t say that we will have some sales breakthrough. But I am confident that today, we might have even more than 25% of fun at work.
Thanks to Dave Longagerger for the inspiration to make 25% of my workday fun. I keep working to live up to it!
Update: We created a fun video of the day and you can find it here.
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