power of a playful spirit at work, The

Journal for Quality and Participation, The, Jul/Aug 1995 by Berg, Deanna H

* Avoidance of stress and conflict--when we feel unsafe or fear displeasing others we go on autopilot and only react to stressors, rarely trying anything new to create the results we want in our lives.

We focus so much on worrying about what we need to improve or change about ourselves and our organizations that we become blind to the positives, impairing our physical and mental health and our ability to learn from our experiences.

* Waiting for Santa Claus, the prince or the princess--many of us are waiting to obtain the perfect job, house, or life partner so we can feel happy and successful.

Part of being a success includes the ability to enjoy all life's activities on the way to the end results. We spend much more time working toward our goals than we do in actually achieving them; if we aren't happy on the way to getting what we want, we probably won't be happy when we obtain the goals either.

The opportunity to play and have fun while we work can provide the safe environment needed to expand these self-imposed limits. A playful spirit addresses all of the above barriers by making it acceptable to experiment and not have to have all the answers.

Play can also be a vehicle for self-discovery, making it possible for us to safely go beyond perceived boundaries to learn new ways of unleashing our skills.

Taking time to ploy can also renew our energy for work... How many of us have been through job interviews where, after talking for an hour about our work qualifications, the interviewer then asked, "and what do you do for fun?" We can't separate play and work; if we're not having fun at work, we probably won't be having much at home either. (2)

Teams who play together stay together--The importance of energized, committed teams continually learning new ways to delight their internal and external customers has been emphasized by many writers. Charles Handy says that we are moving into the Three I Economy (information, ideas and intelligence). All of these are in the heads of people who typically don't go out of their way to share them unless they share the same visions.

The problem isn't lack of commitment, but rather differences in commitments; fun and play can open up the communication needed to surface shared visions. (3)

I can't stand this job! Studies suggest that two-thirds of today's workers don't like their jobs and feel no sense of commitment to their organization's goals. Allen Fahden, in Blissness, suggests that one reason for this alienation is the fact that 80 percent of everyone's jobs involve things other people tell them to do. He believes one way to increase joy and commitment at work is to organize teams that allow people to do things that interest them and fit with their particular strengths. Tom Peters refers to this as "organizing around enthusiasms".

Peter Senge talks about the energy wasted in unaligned teams and emphasizes the need for team and organizational learning. He describes three ways that organizational learning occurs:

* Through teaching...