Fun at work is an early warning system

It's 32 degrees in the UK. The kids are in the pool. The music is blasting from the garden. And I'm in the studio recording a podcast about why fun at work is one of the most important signals a leader can read.

Which feels about right.

When people stop enjoying their work — when the laughter goes quiet, when energy drains from the room — most organisations reach for a fix. A team event. An extra hour for lunch. Forced fun that makes everyone faintly miserable.

That's the wrong response. Because fun isn't the problem. It's the signal.

In this episode I explore why fun has this dual meaning — the foolishness and creativity of the early definition, and the enjoyment of the later one — and why both matter for teams doing real work. I also pull out one of my favourite quotes from Paul Hawken's Growing a Business: laughter and good humour are the canaries in the mine of commerce.

Five things that generate fun as a byproduct — meaning, vision, utilisation, culture, and belonging — and why fixing fun directly never works.

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This episode sits alongside the article Why lack of fun at work is a warning sign on the Cultivated site, which goes deeper on the Engine layer of the Idea to Value system.

Creators and Guests

Host

Rob Lambert

I’m Rob Lambert. Founder of Cultivated, Creative Director of Creative Soul Projects, host of Here's an idea worth playing with, and co-host of Stationery Freaks podcast.

What is Here's an idea worth playing with?

A podcast from Cultivated about words, work and the ideas hiding underneath both.

Every week, Word@Work takes a single word that we often use in work, and follows it back to where it came from - its history, its original meaning, the way we've come to use it, and what that tells us about the popular business of being at work with each other.

Because words aren't just labels. They carry assumptions, histories and ways of seeing the world. Look closely at a word like "deadline", "career", "amateur", "cultivate" or "strategy" and you often find an entirely new way of thinking about work.

Alongside Word@Work, the podcast brings ideas from the Cultivated library to life in audio: essays, field observations, conversations and explorations of work, communication, learning, creativity, attention, making and the journey from an idea to something valuable in the world.

The episodes are deliberately short.
Curious rather than preachy.
More interested in following a good question than delivering a list of answers.

For people who care about how work actually happens - and who enjoy discovering that there is usually a much more interesting story behind the words we use every day.

Rob: 00:00

Hi, everybody, and welcome to another episode of here's an idea worth playing with with myself, Lambert. Hope you're doing safe and well. And in today's episode, we're gonna talk about fun and how fun in our work is like an early warning system. Now it's about 32 degrees at the moment here in The UK. It is blisteringly hot.

Rob: 00:26

I am recording this not out and about because it's too hot. I'm in the studio. I've got the air conditioning on. It also happens to be half term, and I can see my kids out in the garden. We've got the pool out.

Rob: 00:39

They are jumping in and out of the pool. They're having a good time. It's hot. I hope they've got their sun cream on, but they're having fun. Now we can all see fun.

Rob: 00:47

We can sense it in ourselves when we're having fun. We know about it. It's an energy. It's an enthusiasm. It's enjoyable.

Rob: 00:55

We feel good. And yet we often don't associate work with fun. In fact, it's obviously a bit of a meme and a theme and a a kind of cultural norm that maybe we're not supposed to enjoy our jobs, which, you know, for many people that is true. And for some people, they genuinely do and they get a lot of joy and fun from it. But fun in an organization is a early warning system.

Rob: 01:19

It is a it's a signal. It's a message. It's information that tells you that if people aren't having fun across the grand scheme of a week or a month, then something is wrong. So when we look at the etymology, the history of the word fun, it's kind of got this jewel kind of, I guess, description of what it is, the sort of origins of the word fun. From the early fifteenth century, fun meant foolish.

Rob: 01:49

It meant silly. It meant sort of, you know, childish prank type behavior. If you're having fun, you're genuinely not being serious. And I think that's worth holding on to as I explain the sort of more modern history of the word. So around about 1846, fun started to mean something enjoyable, something that was entertaining.

Rob: 02:10

It was enjoyable to take part in something, therefore, was fun. Now what's interesting is I think many leaders, managers, people in organizations think fun is that earlier version, that foolishness, that silliness, that kind of messing about. It's not serious enough. We can't be delivering value to the customers, to the organization if we're having fun because it's silly, it's foolish. We're not in the mix, we're not knuckling down, we're we're not serious enough about delivering what we're supposed to be delivering.

Rob: 02:40

And I think that's a mistake. I think it's a problem Because actually when we think about breaking through problems of bringing people together to solve those really tricky issues that we have or bringing that spirit of people together for that creative action, taking an idea and turning it into value, that creative action that is in the middle of there when people come together, they work together, they bring their skills and their experiences and their insights and their creativity to overcome problems and to build something of value, something that customers are willing to pay for. That requires the environment of creativity and I think creativity is associated with foolishness, with silliness, with the risk of being wrong, with coming up high with ideas that they might make you sound silly, but they might be the idea that you need, that sort of insight that you need to solve the problem, to move the business forward. And I think many leaders and managers almost try and squash out the fun because they see it as not being serious. But for me, it is the creative spirit.

Rob: 03:44

It is that willingness to play the fool, to be wrong, to stand up for what you believe in, to throw your idea into the mix. But when we think about the later definition from 1846, this kind of enjoyable. Well, if people aren't having fun building the things that are keeping the business alive, those products, those services, those things that your customers are willing to pay for, then how long are they gonna give you their best? How long are they gonna really commit to the organization? And generally, how good is that thing that you're building if people aren't having fun doing it?

Rob: 04:18

So I think fun is essential in the workplace. Fun is a combination of creativity, it's it's engagement, it's enjoyment in what you do, and I think that reflects in the products, in the services, in the way that we speak to customers, in the interactions that customers have. Now here in front of me, you might be able to hear the pages rustling, and and apologies if you can hear the boys' music. They've cranked the dance summer party vibe music of full blast out there. I think they're doing it to annoy me, to tease me, to say, look, dad, we're having fun out here in the pool.

Rob: 04:51

I will be out there in a bit. There'll definitely be no behind the scenes sort of photos or videos of me in the pool, that is for sure. But I will go and have fun. Not that I'm not having fun here talking to you, but you you know what I mean. I'm gonna go out there.

Rob: 05:03

Anyway, I'm sort of off on one there. But here in front of me, have my favorite book of all time. It's called Growing a Business by Paul Hawken. I've mentioned it probably on podcast, definitely on the website, definitely on the videos. And I'm gonna read like a a couple of little pieces from here to sort of reinforce this idea that we should be having fun.

Rob: 05:21

There's one bit here that I highlighted. In fact, I've pretty much dipped this entire book in highlighter fluid, but this one stands out. Laughter and delight bond the customer to the company because they build trust and rapport. So this is about that sort of interaction with the customers where it's it's fun, it's enjoyable, it's, personal, it's a relationship that you're building, and it's built on that warmth, on that energy of people who have fun. And if customers have fun too and they enjoy interacting with you, then that's how you build a brand.

Rob: 05:54

I mean, that's how you build a company that is gonna have loyal customers, that trust you. And then just at the close of this chapter, Paul says this, he says, if you aren't having some fun, you might wonder what you're doing in your business. Laughter and good humor are the canaries in the mind of commerce. If employees, customers, and vendors don't laugh and have a good time at your company, something is wrong. Now I love that chapter, that quote.

Rob: 06:24

In fact, the whole book is just gold, but that one particularly sums it up. There's something wrong. Now the best leaders, the best managers, the best people who are those sort of cultural ambassadors that are changing the organization, they notice when fun is dissipating, when joy and spirit are leaving the team, when people aren't having fun and enjoying the work that they're doing, and they know it's that canary in the mind, it's that early warning system. Something is not right if people aren't having fun, if they're not enjoying what they're doing. Your customers will notice it.

Rob: 06:59

The products and services maybe won't be as good as it could be in that creative spirit. That creative spirit that solves problems, that brings people strengths and human potential out is gonna dissipate along with it. But what they don't try to do is they don't try to fix fun. They use it as a signal for something deeper. What they're not gonna do is do a forced fun or an extra hour for lunch.

Rob: 07:24

You know, mean, come on. These are sort of tactics that that really don't work if the underlying culture and meaning and the stuff we're gonna talk about a minute is not there. These are plasters on a deep wound, and it's just not gonna work. So they don't try and fix fun and they certainly don't do forced fun, know, these sort of forced fun events that bring their own kind of misery for certain people. I mean, some people love that stuff and that's cool, but not everyone will and we can't force fun.

Rob: 07:50

Fun is a byproduct of something else, and I've written down here on my notes, I've got five particular things. Now I'm not gonna go into each detail of these because frankly, there's articles and podcasts about each one of these already on the website. That's cultivatedmanagement.com. But these are the five that came to mind when I was thinking about, well, how do we nurture an environment that generates fun as a byproduct? Now the first one has to be meaning.

Rob: 08:15

You know, we have to get meaning from the work that we're doing. In other words, that work has to be meaningful. It has to add value to somebody, and we have to know who that is and what it is that we do that contributes to that value. We have to find meaning in the fact that we enjoy the work itself. We feel like we're building and creating something that is actually having a positive impact, having an effect on people.

Rob: 08:39

That doesn't mean it has to be sort of, you know, environmental if that's your thing or, you know, doing justice for the certain people if that's your thing. But what it does mean is that we can see the fruits of our labor. We can see the products and services helping people achieve success, helping customers get value from it. Now we all find meaning in different ways. So, you know, there's no sort of blanket, thou shalt do this.

Rob: 09:02

But I think what leaders and managers can do is connect people's work to the outcomes, to the goals, to the customers so that we know that the work that we're doing is worth it, is meaningful. Now the second thing is vision. It's this mission. It's what I call a painted picture. This isn't about the work that we're doing necessarily, but it's about where the organization is moving to.

Rob: 09:26

What is the future that all of this hard work that we're putting in contributing to? Where is it? What is it we're trying to achieve? What kind of company are we trying to become? Now this sits above the work.

Rob: 09:39

This is bigger than the program of work or the project or the product or service that we're building at the moment. This is this is about creating a company that's worth working for. It might already be like that, or it could be that you're transitioning through some sort of transformation or change towards a different type of company, or you're just super clear about the kind of company that you want to build. And when leaders and managers have this, they have a narrative. They have a why that sits above the work.

Rob: 10:08

This project comes and goes. This product and service, we build it, we ship it, we move on to something else. But that vision, that mission, that painted picture, that keeps going. That keeps going. It's bigger than the work itself.

Rob: 10:22

It's a narrative. It's a story of the future that people can place themselves in. It's a future that's worth leaning into. So the third one that I have on my list is utilization. This isn't utilization of us and our hours in terms of some sort of mechanical capacity kind of thinking, you know, you've got eight hours a day, you've got forty hours a week or whatever it is that you work, we're gonna utilize you for all of that.

Rob: 10:50

If you've heard anything that I've done before on the podcast or you've read any of my articles, you'll know that people don't work a 100% all day every day. It doesn't make any sense. Nobody does. That's the way that people think about when they think about utilization. But what I think about when I think about utilization is are we utilizing people's strengths, people's skills, people's human potential?

Rob: 11:16

Are we helping people achieve their own personal goals that are aligned to the work that we're doing? Are we really truly allowing people to express their human creativity, not in terms of preferences of I don't wanna work today, all that kind of stuff, but their contribution, their ideas, their thoughts, their insights in how to make the business better, how to help achieve that painted picture. I think if we look around many organizations, most people are completely underutilized. Busy, working epic hours, but not really releasing what they are capable of within that organization. And I think that's why a lot of people wanna escape.

Rob: 12:02

They wanna do something different. They wanna find a different company, maybe wanna set up on their own so that they can release their potential. I think a lot of organizations are squandering, are squashing, are limiting, and they're not releasing people's potential. That is utilization. Not of time, but of energy, attention, and human capability.

Rob: 12:30

Now the fourth one I've got on my list is culture. Now when I talk about culture, I'm really talking about behaviors. I have the free ebook, 10 behaviors of effective employees, if you wanna see the 10 that I would always try and encourage in any organization. For fun to really grab hold, for people to enjoy their work, to people find meaning in it, we have to have trust and good relationships, be in an environment where toxic behaviors are actually dealt with, where people don't shoot down ideas, where people communicate clearly, where people have passion and enthusiasm and energy for their work, for other people, these are all behaviors. They are the culture of the organization.

Rob: 13:11

So if we want fun to emerge as a byproduct of some of the stuff that we're talking about here, then we must nurture the behaviors that allow it to flourish, that allow it not to turn into silliness and, you know, just dossing about at work and not getting stuff done. That's not the point. It's not here to have fun and get paid for it without contributing value. But contributing towards value, expressing your capability at work, and having fun, they're not at odds with each other. They're all part of the same thing.

Rob: 13:48

So focusing on behaviors is super, super important. It is, at the end of the day, the culture of the organization. And then finally, I wrote down belonging. And I guess as I've gone through this podcast, I've sort of thought, well, actually belonging is kind of part of all of the other things that I mentioned, you know, meaning, vision, utilization, culture. But I think belonging also is part of that feeling that's hard to measure, extremely difficult to measure, which is probably why people don't focus on it.

Rob: 14:21

But it's a sense that you're accepted for your skills, for your preferences of communication, for the things that you add value to the organization towards. But I think belonging is about knowing and and sensing and feeling and actually even sometimes being told that you are valuable and respected for what you bring to the table. I think there's this sort of element that people are often throwing stones at each other. They're blaming different departments. But each of these departments, each of these people in a well run organization is contributing to the value of the organization.

Rob: 15:01

They are contributing to the society and the culture of that organization. We are all different. We all contribute something. We got strengths. We got weaknesses.

Rob: 15:11

We have to mitigate other people's weaknesses with our own strengths. Other people have strengths that mitigate our weaknesses. All the different departments are all part of the system. They're all supposed to be working together to deliver on the vision, the mission, and add value to the customers. And I think the organizations that get this right are the ones that nurture that kind of differences, but we're all in the same system.

Rob: 15:39

They're the kind of organizations that point at all the different work that's happening and acknowledge it and recognize it. They let people and help people understand what everyone else is contributing to the bigger system of work. They're the organizations that don't allow people to sort of almost define roles and functions and confine people to them. They encourage that cross pollination. They encourage that cross thinking.

Rob: 16:08

They encourage that sharing and insights that come from all over the organization so that people can, I guess, acknowledge, understand, and respect that everybody is contributing to the system, even if they're different to us, they do different roles, a different kind of people? We're all adding value. And I think I think that gives us a sense of belonging, that we are trusted, respected, and acknowledged for what it is that we're doing to play our part of turning an idea into something useful for the customers. So I think fun has that double edged meaning. One is that foolishness, that silliness.

Rob: 16:47

But for me, that represents that creativity. Acknowledgment and appreciation that actually we might be wrong or that this idea might not be a good idea. But if we don't nurture that, then we're gonna do the same as everyone else does. We're gonna have dull ideas. We're gonna have boring ideas.

Rob: 17:03

We're not gonna really change. We're not gonna really improve other than those efficiency gains that people love to measure. But those ideas that come out of nowhere because people have thought laterally, they've had fun, they've come up with what might seem like a silly idea, but could be the next business generating revenue pot. And then the other side that is enjoyable. Now, of course, it's not gonna be fun all the time.

Rob: 17:29

It's like a roller coaster. There's ups and downs. You can't have the fun without the downside of it, but fun for most of the time. So we're enjoying it. We're engaged in it.

Rob: 17:39

We believe in it. Anyway, that's an idea that I thought was worth playing with. Anyway, with that, I'm gonna go and don my swimming outfit, go outside, enjoy this 30 degree heat that we have here in The UK. I know there's people listening that have that day today all year round, but for us in The UK, this is exceptional. Gonna jump in the pool, have a little bit of fun.

Rob: 18:00

Obviously, carefully, safely, probably have a rash fest, hat, sunnies, lots of sun cream. Me and the sun, we we have this sort of love hate relationship. I love feeling good in the sun, and the sun loves burning me. So, you know, we go on. We understand what our relationship is like.

Rob: 18:18

Anyway, I am a solo waffling. That's been here's an idea worth playing with. I look forward to speaking to you in the next episode. You take care of yourselves. Bye bye.