“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”

Reba McEntire

Fun is a natural, life giving force which each of us can access whenever we want. The greatest obstacle to our embracing our natural sense of fun is often our own self-imposed biases. If I am too silly, will they take me seriously? If I use humor, will they not see the substance? Don’t inhibit your own “go juice.” Fun work is not just a nice to have, it is a need to have if you are to maintain your energy for your work.

• Who says you can’t be someone special? From the Internet, print out a photograph of your celebrity crush, autograph it to you, and put it in a frame on your desk. You’ll be the talk of the office. And no doubt, create some fun-loving copycats. Kelly Epperson, author of “When Life Stinks, It’s Time to Wash the Gym Clothes.”
• The biggest impediment to fun in an organization might be you, especially if you are the boss, a manager, or a leader. Stand back and get out of the way. At Blazer Industries in Oregon, fun is organic. For example, the “Older Than Dirt Club” puts a black, leafless tree on someone’s desk in honor of their 50th birthday. A small group also barbecues in the back of their trucks at lunch time. While these are not company-initiated activities, they are not discouraged in the least.
• Look for ways to liven up even the most mundane tasks. Put coupons for ice cream and other treats in the huge stacks of mail that have to be opened by employees every day. Provide a champagne toast whenever the company delivers a on a large contract.
• In an article in the Lincoln Journal Star, Author William Lauer quoted “The Ten Commandments of Human Relationships” by Karla Rogers, boss of Long John Silver’s, near 70th and O streets, New York City:

1. Speak to people: There is nothing so nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2. Smile at people: It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, only fourteen to smile.
3. Call people by name: The sweetest music to anyone’s ears is the sound of his or her own name.
4. Be friendly and helpful: If you would have friends, be a friend
5. Be cordial: Speak and act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure.
6. Be genuinely interested in people; You can like almost everybody if you try.
7. Be generous with praise: Cautious with criticism.
8. Be considerate with the feelings of others: There are usually three sides to a controversy: yours, the other person’s, and the right side.
9. Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others.
10. Add to this a good sense of humor, a big dose of patience, and a dash of humility, and you will be rewarded manifold.

Fun is contagious and electric. Once unbridled, it will travel fast throughout an organization giving life and energy to all.

Make it a goal to find and remove obstacles that inhibit the free flow of fun. Don’t be afraid to confront those who discourage fun.

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”

 Katherine Hepburn