For a long time I'd like to sit down and write an article about games at work but I'm thinking about how I can get the message across best.
You should not be serious about it, "or maybe you should approach the subject from an academic perspective and tell about the research done in the field of management in recent years, such as their research By Marcus Buckingham, the Gallup Institute of the World and various studies on laughter and humor at work? Or is it better to present research in the field of medicine and psychology that demonstrate the link between stress and burnout and morbidity, between satisfaction and effectiveness and happiness and measurable results? Perhaps it is better to talk about methods of developing personal and team effectiveness that have been tried around the world and have proven effective (such as the "fish method" on which a number of fascinating books were written) describing the method and telling about the results of many companies in the world who have tried the actual fish method? Or that I intend high and try to link the article to the theory of games that earned Israel Uman and Thomas Schilling the Nobel Prize.
Since the first paragraph of this article provides a quick overview of existing sources of information in the field and since much information can be found on any of the methods mentioned above on the Internet or in professional literature, I decided to adhere to the "Just About Myself I Know" approach.
I have to approach the subject from my experience as a manager who plays with his work, plays with his employees and even plays with his clients. As one who has been teaching in recent years how to play the job on the way to achieving business results and objectives, I believe that the best way to explain this approach to those who do not know it will be by using examples as "the simplest level of explanation is the example."
Why does playing sound like a serious business that belongs to children only?
When I lecture to a business audience about the topic of "games and enjoyment in the workplace" I find myself again and again dealing with great concerns arising from the lack of familiarity with the subject. The word "game" sounds to many of us as a serious matter belonging to children and that any connection between this action and the serious business world is purely coincidental. The adult world envelops us in games and there is no one of us who does not play in one way or another. Some of us are watching games very carefully, others will find themselves playing on the computer even while working, those of us who have time to invest in a family between work and work can find themselves playing with their children with great pleasure, other adults playing with their friends in different card games, Playing on the stock market is very serious and there are also those who play other gambling and may lose all their fortunes in these games.
You did not come to play here, you came to work!
We all know the immortal phrase "You did not come here to play, you came to work!" This sentence briefly sums up the somewhat outdated mindset of previous generations who believed and still believe that work is not meant to give us pleasure, satisfaction and meaning. The work is done so that we can live and earn money with which we can buy ourselves things that will bring us pleasure, satisfaction, amusement and meaning.
On the question of "what precedes what?" Most of us believe that with the help of money and other material consequences in life, we can acquire things that will bring us happiness, joy and satisfaction. Studies from the fields of psychology and positive psychology prove that money and happiness are not compatible (as long as we have passed the basic level of survival) and that there is an inverse relationship: students who participated in the study for 20 years were asked while they were students how happy they were, A year later, while clearing the other variables. According to the study data, the level of income of students who defined themselves as approved was 30% higher than those who defined themselves as unhappy, and from these and many other studies we can conclude that happiness and pleasure are the ones that bring us the desired results. Can not make us happy and happy as most of us think.
Can pleasure and work coexist?
We work and invest 75% of our comment time as adult people in a work that according to many of us approach is to allow us to enjoy and celebrate our wonderful lives in the short time we have left out of work. Others believe that it is possible to work at work that will give us satisfaction, interest and pleasure. So what is the right approach to work?
This question has no correct or correct answer.
There are a number of questions that I recommend to employ our minds when choosing our approach to life in general and to work in particular. The first is: Do I want to live most of the day under pressure, difficulty and endless seriousness so that I can enjoy the hours left in my day?
If you want to work hard and stress so that I can enjoy the remaining hours of the day and the weekends, then you can stop reading this article and return to your very serious work, but if you want to find out how to enjoy the work itself and how this enjoyment will bring You also have improved results.
How can you enjoy the work at all?
Yes! You can definitely learn how to enjoy your work! Skills can be acquired to help us enjoy more, or rather, we can develop the same skills among ourselves and among the employees we are practicing.
The question of how it is more complex and which I will try to answer in the example:
For many years I have been involved in guiding groups in various fields. I got to work with a number of training companies and with a variety of different methods of work. Our story begins when I was invited to guide a group of managers in one of the largest organizations in the Israeli economy together with another mentor from another company. Both of us were assigned the task of leading a group of managers to measurable sales results set by the organization. Our different approach to the training processes stemmed mainly from our different understanding of the term "game". While my learned colleague saw the games as a nice activity suitable for employee formation but not suitable for serious business activity, I chose to see the game as an elementary, enjoyable and common learning method for all people. We all learned and developed from