Changing Behavior: The Fun Theory

That headline ought to confuse the search engines.

Why does nearly every corporate meeting about "behavioral change" end up with some kind of a solution that involves sanctions or carrot-and-stick incentive programs that can only get bigger and more expensive to have any impact over the long run?

Which leads me to: "How can we make something so much fun that people can't not do it?"

Here's a look at The Fun Theory in action:

Comments

[Paul Hebert]

You are on the money Steve! Too often we jump to incentives - mostly because they are easy. There are so many other ways to influence behavior within an organization. Incentives work in specific places and applications - but they are not the only thing. Many of my clients are looking for new ways to influence behavior - behavioral economics, social psychology and like in this case - things that are just plain fun!

Thanks for posting.

[Tom Glover]

This is a great video. I've always been a proponent of actively having fun in the workplace. This video really makes me wonder, how can we purposefully inject fun into the workplace in a more systematic way?

[Steve Roesler]

Paul,

Well, this is where you live and I'll bet, in the words of the late sage Jimmy Durante, "You got a million of 'em!"

What has fascinated me for so many years is that groups of people sit in a room guessing at what some other group will or will not do based on a given initiative/project, etc. Why not, uh, just bring in the other group of people and say, "Hey, here's what we're thinking about. How would you make this work for you?

BTW: Congrats on the BlogRadio schtick. You've got some great folks in the lineup. . .

[Steve Roesler]

Tom,

While I was writing the response to Paul, I had this brain blip:

"First, fun has to be acceptable in the workplace."

How many times have we heard a boss say, "Hey, you're having too much fun."? And they often mean it.

We have a way to go. . .

[Dallas Bragg]

Steve--

Great post! So many people think that if you throw money at your people they will automatically become motivated. I have found that in the most stressful atomosphere, having fun raises morale and increases performance. Thank you!!

Dallas

[Mary Jo Asmus]

I worked in Corporate Compensation for a couple of years. Talk about a place where you could get very depressed (those riduculous executive salaries were enough, even back then, to discourage a young worker-bee). But we had a manager who encouraged and allowed us to have some fun. And so we did. We worked hard, we were effective, we were a team, and yet we had fun. It was one of the best work experiences I've ever had.

The lesson? Fun had a great effect on how willing we were to work hard (and distracted us, a little, from those executive salaries).

[Joan Schramm]

Steve, Steve, Steve...really? Ask a group of workers what they need to make an initiative work for them? You've obviously been drinking the Kool-Aid.

"Fun has to be acceptable in the workplace" -- too true and, in too many workplaces, a radical mind-shift from the way things are.

Case in point. A friend of mine works for a large arts organization. Every year at Oscar time, they would have an Oscar Pool where employees would guess the Oscar winner in each category. The employees who got the most picks right won small prizes -- certificates to the movies, popcorn, etc. It was a lot of fun, and something to look forward to every year.

Two years ago the org abruptly stopped it. My friend, and others, asked why.

"Takes up too much time" they were told. My friend offered to do the entire thing himself -- make up ballots, distribute them, collect and tabulate them.

"Well", they said, "we're spending too much money on prizes."

My friend estimates that the year before the org spent about $70 on prizes.

So, to save $70 and maybe a few hours work, the org was willing to stop a long-standing, fun tradition that everyone looked forward to each year.

Talk about a buzz-kill. And, indicative of the way too many organizations think.

[Steve Roesler]

Mary Jo,

Your example shows just how powerful the fun/enjoyment thing really is, if people were able to forget about obscene salary gaps because they were simply satisfied at the job.

Duh?

[Steve Roesler]

Joan,

Yeah, well, I'm doing more than the Kool-Aid to keep afloat with this one.

The Oscar story kind of stopped me in my tracks for a minute; had to re-read quickly to make sure I was seeing it right.

From your unique vantage point there, what are the longer term ramifications or side issues as a result? Those things don't go unnoticed.

[Joan Schramm]

Steve --

The ramifications of stopping the Oscar pool seem small -- on the surface. After all, it's a once-a-year thing, the excitement lasts only a few days, and then it's over. Unlike winning Best Picture, two days after the Oscars no one in the org remembers who won the pool.

It's sort of the Water Torture version of an event -- just one small drop. But taken in conjunction with many, many small drops it eats away at people's confidence in the org; it lessens their motivation to excel and their willingness to go the extra step.

Is anyone going to say, "Hey...they stopped the Oscar pool, so I'm not going to stay late and finish this report. I'll do it tomorrow." Of course not. But the unconscious thought is there. "No hurry on this report," they'll say, "I can get to it tomorrow." Or, they're a tiny bit less friendly or accommodating with a customer. Slower to smile. Less willing to make a big exception to help a customer out. Nothing huge you can point to but, like the Water Torture, the small drops keep falling and, over time, it becomes not such a great place to either work or visit.