The trouble with fun

I have worked with a couple of organisations that have fun as a value, and this has always troubled me.

Now, there is nothing wrong with having fun at work. I’m all for it. According to a study published in HBR, eighty-one per cent of employees at companies ranked as “A Great Place to Work” described their environments as fun. But making fun a value isn’t the same thing.

Fun is tricky because it can be an ‘in the eye of the beholder’ scenario. We know that fun can go awry at work. One person’s ‘just having a bit of fun’ is another person’s something else entirely, from distracting to offensive to bullying.

Thinking about fun as a value gives us an insight into values themselves. Our values are something that we stand for and stand behind. You need to be able to defend values in multiple situations.

Southwest Airlines is one of the most cited examples of an organisation where fun lives as a value. It’s a massive part of their brand. People who fly Southwest know what to expect. Fun is written into the scripts of the onboard safety demonstration. Employees are encouraged to be wacky.

If a customer takes exception to a staff member’s well-intentioned humour, you'd need to know that your employer would back you. And Southwest has demonstrated this. Its CEO emailed a customer who was complaining about the casual atmosphere, telling them they would be missed.

Organisational values need to have that sort of backing. They are clearly understood and supported at all levels.

Thinking about your workplace values, would they stand the 'fun' test?