www.thefunminutemanager.com -
Dr. John W. Newstrom,Dr. Robert C. Ford, and Dr. Frank S. McLaughlin
Adapted from “HavingFun At Work,”
IEE EngineeringManagement, April/May 2004.
Isyour organization a “toxic energy dump” where everyone feels drained and joy isabsent? If so, perhaps you need to learn and practice a new funomenon—the serious study and application of fun at work(which we call funology). Thisfield, if properly planned and administered, can be highly functional for employee performance; it might even help preventyour organization from becoming defunct. The first step in theprocess is to become a funophile—aperson who loves, likes, or is at least favorably disposed to the use of fun atwork. (Of course, if you getcarried away and become really passionate about the merits of fun, you mightbecome labeled as a funatic!)Another important step is to acquire and speak the language offunologists—those persons who specialize inproviding light-hearted activities and humor at work.
Consider,for example, the following “top ten” funological terms:
- Funalogy—a humorous way to relate or combine two items together (e.g., “giant shrimp”)
- Funometer—a real-time device for measuring and visually portraying the perceived amount of fun that employees are experiencing at work
- Fungry—the physical state that exists when people have a strong appetite for fun at work
- Function—any relatively formal ceremony or meeting that is marked by the appropriate use of fun
- Funrise/funset—the time when the first (last) sign of fun shows up at work in the morning (evening)
- Funk—a depressed mood caused by a deficiency of fun at work
- Funopoly—the condition when one person is solely the instigator, and in control of, all humorous events at work
- Fundness—the emotional state existing when someone feels a warm state of affection toward the use of fun
- Defunseless—when an unsuspecting employee finally sees a fun experience (e.g., a practical joke) coming at him/her, but is powerless to avoid it
- Funatic funster—a person who is very passionate about having fun at work and actively helps to facilitate it for others
Wecould elaborate further on this lexicon, but we must achieve some level of funality regarding all of these new terms or else you maybegin thinking about asking for a refund for the good time you’ve had, and that would be dysfunctional to our coffers. So as we close this brief report, imagine that this classicItalian melody is playing in (and with) your mind—“Funiculi,Funicula.” Wouldn’t that be funtastic?
