No reason not to have fun at work - and that includes the church

There is absolutely no reason that people should not have fun at work. Happy, motivated employees produce outstanding results. Management guro Oren Harari notes the connection "between smiles and discipline, laughs and focus, giggles and results, heehaw and high performance. They are the same road." A leader's attitude sets the tone for the entire organization and plays an important role in determining whether employees enjoy their jobs and are productive at work.

When I took over as CEO of a large social-service organization, morale was low. Funding cutbacks, program closures, staff layoffs, and a lack of a vision had all taken their toll. A by-product of this organizational malaise was that no one, including myself, was having much fun. Among our first priorities was to adopt an "unofficial" mission statement - Work hard, have fun, get results. We then communicated the message: Yes, we are going to have to work long hours in order to turn our organization around; yes, results and accountability matter; and, yes, you are expected to accomplish your stated objectives or you will be asked to leave (and a few were asked). The message as blunt, but underlying it was the general understanding that life is too short not to have fun. We came to understand that working together to create a renewed organization that has a clear purpose and that makes a difference in peoples' lives is exciting and fun. Only one of our ten senior managers had trouble with the notion that you could have fun with those that reported to you, and still be an effective manager. This person left after a year, which proved best for all involved.

Kurt Senske, Executive Values: A Christian Approach to Organizational Leadership, pp. 53-54.

An aside: Kurt was the board chair through more than half of my tenure as Executive of LCMS World Relief and Human Care.