The Serious Business of Having Fun: Why Joy Belongs at the Heart of High Performance

At How Consulting, we hold an important core belief - the best work happens when people are having fun. Science and experience backs us up.

I have recently been partnered with a fantastic coach as part of the International Coaching Federation’s peer coaching programme. It pairs ICF coaches at all stages of their development with other coaches - to coach and be coached. It gives us a safe environment to continue to develop and in this instance, it has meant I get to benefit from all the wonders of being coached. Time to reflect, challenging questions, changed perspectives and with an exciting year ahead - it is already giving me clarity.

One of my favourite moments from our first session was my coach picking up on my repeated mentions of both performance and fun.

“I’m also noticing you repeated the word “fun” several times.. why is that so important for you?”

It was a lovely “mirror” moment - where coaching helps you see something about yourself more clearly. Because she was right - I did mention it a lot and it is important to me.

My reply: “Life is too important not to be fun. It’s too long, it’s too important and I don’t think good ideas or performance or productivity happen from a place of.. they definitely don’t come from a place of misery. They don’t come from a place of boredom. They don’t come about from people who feel “stale” or are stuck in an unconscious routine. Great things happen when people are invigorated and happy and having fun..” (yes, this is a transcript from the session, so it’s more of a stream of thought than a perfect sentence?!)

Back in 2009 I was a freshly qualified lawyer, having completed my two year training contract with leading London law firm. I think it’s fair to say - I did not find the fun in being a trainee solicitor. I loved the people but the work and the workplace structure was not for me. I did love the socials though and was a regular at grad recruitment events.. I don’t know if it was a high or low point when I handed in expenses from an event in Oxford from which I got the 2am Oxford Tube coach back to London?!

And a friend suggested I join Michael Page.. and from the first interview, it felt FUN. Not only that, they told me their values - and one of their cast in stone values? “Make it Fun”. We did role plays, I met with team members, they invited me to a social to meet the wider team. Agency recruitment can be SO tough at times - demanding clients, big decisions for candidates - there are a lot of emotions on all sides, as well as your own. But Make It Fun ran through the core of the business.

And I flew! I picked up the Maximising Potential National Award in my first year. I was promoted every 18 - 24 months. I hit the top of leader boards. And I loved it - even when inevitably things didn’t go my way. (Feel free to message me for many, MANY tales of recruitment woes).

And there is science (my fave) behind it. When we experience fun all sorts of good things happen to our brain chemistry. Our brains release dopamine. The good guy of brain chemicals linked with pleasure, motivation and learning. It reinforces behaviours and encourages us to do them more often. If we can tie a dopamine hit to an activity or behaviour - we’re more likely to repeat it. Tie dopamine to a behaviour or activity which promotes performance - and we’re on our way to peak performance.

And there is anecdotal evidence too. A survey conducted by BrightHR found that 79% of employees believe that fun at work leads to higher productivity. Gallup research has shown that fun equals higher engagement, and.. the money bit.. that results in 21% higher profitability for their companies.

This isn’t just theory. Some of the world’s most successful companies have made fun part of their performance strategy.Google promotes “playful productivity”. Their offices feature dedicated rooms for gaming and colourful, open plan workspaces. I used to recruit for Disney and loved visiting their offices - they were bright and vibrant with Mickey Mouse door handles and Disney franchise themed meeting rooms.

And at Michael Page, back in 2009? We had team events and fancy dress and prizes. Different people took the lead on the fun - so that everyone got involved.

So fun goes hand in hand with high performance. How do we harness it at How Consulting?

We take what we do seriously - but not ourselves.

Delivering training is fraught with things that can go wrong. A fire alarm in the middle of a packed agenda - suddenly you’ve found yourself stood outside DIFC Gate Avenue for two hours when you’ve flown in for a one day management course. Technology fails - a screen and laptop which insist on randomly disconnecting. Slides distorting. Meeting room lights fail for seemingly no reason. Flip charts decide to collapse, again, seemingly for no reason. There is nothing worse than seeing a facilitator themselves flapping. We make fun of it. We make fun of ourselves. We laugh about it in the room. Cortisol is banished and dopamine joins the room. And we move on.

We integrate dopamine boosting activities.

Fun in a training room = dopamine hit. How do we generate fun? Movement and psychological rewards. Whether its a quiz, team puzzles such as the How Way™ Productivity Game or activities which require you moving around the room - we wire training to give our attendees the fun that their brain will be grateful for. Not only that - dopamine has been linked to improved memory, so people are more likely to remember their fun learns when they are back at desk.

We don’t just talk - we “do”.

Do you know about the 70/20/10 rule about learning? It’s based on research in the 1980’s into how successful managers acquire professional skills but it still stands and we see it all the time. 70% of learning is from experiences, 20% is knowledge and skills learnt from others and 10% is from formal learning - e.g. sitting and listening. As much as possible we give our delegates experiential learning - work simulations, games, movement. They’re fun and they encourage the parts of our brain which equal long lasting learning and behaviour change.

What can you do to bring the fun to your organisation?

As a leader - emotional intelligence and regulation is one of your greatest strengths. Without them, fun can be hard in tough times, and that’s probably when you need it most.

Think fun and working hard can’t go hand in hand? Or you can’t do a “serious” job and make it fun? There is a great podcast called the “Modern Humanitarian and Development Leader podcast” where Torrey Peace talks about the importance of fun in one of the most challenging of environments - humanitarian work. Torrey brilliantly highlights the link between having fun and high quality work, having fun and avoiding burn out and how she embedded fun even in the most difficult of circumstances in Timor Leste, a country with long running military crises, poverty, illiteracy and struggling economic development. You can listen to it here.

So, we will continue in my lifelong pursuit of fun in the workplace and my dedication to bringing fun to my clients and their employees. We’ve seen firsthand how fun fuels performance: whether it’s in a boardroom, a workshop, or a one-day management course surrounded by fire alarms and flip charts. So, if your people could use a little more joy, energy, and yes, measurable results, let’s talk.

Drop us a line at hello@how-consulting.com— we’re ready to bring the fun to your high performance.

© Rebecca How