Making workplaces fun is productive, January
26, 2007, 7D.
If you
are looking for a clean, fun, mindless, and uplifting
experience, watch Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
on video. It is the story of two high school friends who
travel through time collecting “personages of historical
significance” for use in a high school history
presentation. In one scene, Bill and Ted find themselves in
the future and in the presence of an assembly of people who
admire them as historically significant people.
Before leaving the future, they are prompted to say
something to the group. The words of wisdom that they utter
are: “Be excellent to each other” and “Party on, dudes!”
Later in the movie, Abraham Lincoln used those same words to
conclude Bill and Ted’s presentation to the high school
student body during the history presentation.
The
concepts described in the words of Bill and Ted have become
quite popular in the management and organization fields in
recent years. The management philosophy at the Pike
Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington is one such
example. Their philosophy is that work should be fun and
they realize that work and organizations are about
people—the people who work in them and give them life and
the people with whom they serve and work. Visitors to the
fish market witness workers being playful while working hard
and giving extreme personal attention and service to each
customer. Workers learn to see customers as fellow human
beings with individual needs and wants. Respect, concern,
and compassion for others make up the core of the “fish
philosophy.”
Without
profitable exchanges with others outside of the
organization, businesses will eventually go out of
business. Work has to be done. The fish market chooses to
conduct work in a fun and friendly environment. It should
not surprise anyone that places that are perceived as fun
and enjoyable are preferred over those places that are not.
When people are free to enjoy each other, their work, and
their organizations, they tend to be more satisfied with
work, life, and themselves.
From a
motivational perspective, these philosophies operate on
peoples’ higher-level needs. When people focus on
themselves and what they are personally getting or
not getting from work and when they view work as simply a
means to a paycheck rather than a way of helping and serving
others, they can become overly absorbed with bettering
themselves and can sometimes neglect bettering their
customers and organizations. Working in a culture that
encourages members to focus on others and serve their needs,
can help individuals grow and satisfy higher-level personal
needs, such as esteem and self-actualization needs.
When all
organizational members, from first-level workers to top
management, value and respect each other and their
customers, suppliers, and other external constituents, good
things happen. When work is fun, meaningful, and enjoyable,
workers tend to commit themselves more fully to their jobs
and organizations. This philosophy is not new. Bill and
Ted said it wonderfully, “Be excellent to each other…and
party on, dudes!”
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