Here are the Top 6 Reasons I hear about why people believe that their work environment could never be fun or engaging:

1. Our work is very serious

2. There are too many overly serious people who work here

3. The management won’t allow us to have fun

4. We have too much work to do, there is no time for fun

5. If people had fun all hell would break loose

6. The public or customers would think we are not doing our jobs properly

Yet, here are the Top 7 Benefits I hear about why having fun at work is so crucial these days:

1. It is a low cost, easy way to build morale.

2. It enhances communication and builds social bonds that help people through the tough times.

3. It makes people want to perform well at work and be a contributing member of their team.

4. It re-vitalizes people so they are healthier and have more energy.

5. It opens up creative thinking which helps people be more resourceful with problems.

6. It helps staff build rapport amongst themselves and with clients and customers.

7. It creates a positive atmosphere that makes customers more likely to want to do business with you.

Grand Prize Winner of the Artistry of Change Retreat at Hollyhock goes to Ruth Payne who conceived of the “I am more than my day job” exhibit at the District of West Vancouver

contributed by Ruth Payne of Cultural Affairs within the District of West Vancouver

Ruth writes, “Here’s what I did to motivate and inspire the District of West Vancouver staff.  It works like hotcakes!

We are just finishing the run of an exhibition entitled ‘I Am More Than My Day Job’.  It is for all Municipal staff, including Fire, Police, Transit, Library. The Mayor even has a piece of art in it!    Over 3000 visitors have been through it.I virtually go dept to dept to drag out of employees just what they do with their creativity in their ‘other life’.  The results is amazing!  This is probably one of the best exhibitions ever, and who would guess?

We have a big opening reception and the staff that are musicians performed.

The results:

1. the public love seeing staff that they normally associate with i.e. a Finance Clerk, now being exhibited as a textile artist, a wood carver, an accomplished photographer,  a jeweller, a mixed media painter…the list goes on.

2. the staff morale is on the ceiling…peel them off…they are so darned chuffed at being featured and perceived as artists.

THE BEST STORY YET:   The Director of Finance, very shyly showed me some photographs he took through the windscreen as he does the long daily drive home to Maple Ridge. He had no idea they were even worth showing to anyone. They are of the traffic when it is raining. They are very fresh, immediate and appealing. I took him by the hand to a frame shop, where he learned how they needed to be framed, then he did it himself to save money, and they have been the rave of the exhibit. All three sold, AND a gallery in W. Vancouver now wants to carry his work. He now has a whole new life. He just can’t get over himself!

I love this example of the arts helps people reinvent themselves. And the best part is that other employees now perceive this quiet finance guy in a whole new light.”

Read more

We recently concluded our Workplace Creativity contest and this week we wanted to showcase some of the amazing entries that we received. This contest asked people to email a description of an innovative way you work, such as creative décor, something fun that happened at work, or any initiative that contributed to a culture of innovation.

Several prizes are being given out and the top place winner receives a free spot in our 4 day Artistry of Change retreat at Hollyhock!

The judges were:

• Carla Rieger, The Creativity Catalyst
• Marisa Cohen,Creative Writer and Blogger
• Phyllis Harber-Murphy,Creative Virtual Assistant
• Carol Ann Fried, Fun at Work expert–Training, Speaking and Coaching
• David Gouthro, Creativity and Innovation expert–Training, Speaking and Facilitation

To be informed about our next contest, feel free to subscribe to our email list and this blog’s RSS feed.

Here are the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place winners for the Workplace Creativity Contest:

Fourth Place – Having fun with lack of storage space

from Lorian Markin of the Justice Institute of BC in New Westminster BC, Canada

Lorian writes, “We are very short of storage space at the Justice Institute and often the only place to store boxes of classroom materials is literally under our desks. I always joke about someday making a little fort out of them, and one morning I came in and my co-workers had built one for me!”

Third Place – Olympics at the Beach

from Bliss at Symantec in Bellingham

Bliss writes, “A few years ago when working with Symantec, we took two teams of folks who worked in different groups–but needed to communicate flawlessly–to the beach.  Once there, we mixed them up in newly formed teams and conducted Symantec Olympics on the Beach.

Seeing each other slipping as they raced, and limbo-ing on the sand and passing eggs on spoons had everyone laughing together in no time.  As I bet you would agree, if you laugh together, you can work together.  I was the one with the stopwatch and whistle, and can attest to that fact. As for other companies, you don’t have to go to the beach to have your own “Olympic” events.  You can be anywhere, from the park to the office hallways, just being willing to get silly together does wonders.”

Second Place – Re-inventing a child’s play area at Salmon Arm Credit Union

Contributed by Louise Delaney, Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union

I work as the Manager, Marketing for the Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union. Our main branch had an old run down kids “play” area which featured hand me down books, a painting on the wall and a wooden rocking horse from the 1950;s. We called him “Horsey”.  Horsey entertained generations of children who waited for their folks while they did their banking.

As cute as he was, Horsey seemed dangerous to me. He slid along a metal contraption which could easily slice off little fingers. He was rickety so tended to buck off excited children. And worst of all, he stood in front of a plate glass window.  I couldn’t stand the potential risks we could incur and so I turned a hazard into a creative opportunity.

I lassoed Horsey one night and took him to my office pasture, much to the complaints of the kids, parents (now really, would they allow Horsey to live in THEIR playroom – safely?), and from staff who had to deal with disappointed kids and aggravated parents.

I needed to bring “Horsey” back in a way that didn’t pose any hazards, that enabled staff to work without too much noise, and that would satisfy parents and their kids. I thought about how to design something using local imagery, local design talent and local business to produce it. I put our Ad agency on the case (Mediability Communications and Creatability Design).

After many design drafts: here is the interactive, magnetic board which lines the walls of our kids area. It is 10 feet wide by 5 feet high and surrounds two corner walls. The elements in the design can easily be taken off and can be moved wherever the spirit takes those who dare to play (kids and adults alike). It features local bird life, it is close to the ground for little kids and it corrals little folk into a manageable area.

The kids love it, the parents love it, the staff love it and Horsey remains peaceful in the pasture but reincarnated in the new design. The design is now being custom produced for in home use thereby increasing business for those involved.

See the next blog post for The Grand Prize Winner of The Workplace Creative Contest

Here is a TV commercial for Apple Computers from the 1990’s called “Think Different”. The concept bears revisiting because many people now need to recapture the artist within to reinvent their personal life, their work life or their organization.

The one-minute commercial features black and white video footage of significant historical Change Artists of the past, including (in order):

1.     Albert Einstein

2.     Bob Dylan

3.     Martin Luther King, Jr.

4.     Richard Branson

5.     John Lennon (with Yoko Ono)

6.     R. Buckminster Fuller

7.     Thomas Edison

8.     Muhammad Ali

9.     Ted Turner

10.  Maria Callas

11.  Mahatma Gandhi

12.  Amelia Earhart

13.  Alfred Hitchcock

14.  Martha Graham

15.  Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog)

16.  Frank Lloyd Wright

17.  Pablo Picasso

The commercial ends with an image of a young girl, Shaan Sahota, opening her closed eyes, as if to see the possibilities before her.

Many people these days are addicted to rushing, hurrying and being as productive as humanly possible. Being productive and efficient are important in service of the right outcome. However, many people spend so much time in that mode that they can’t stop being that way even on summer vacation. Sometimes to stop and enter into silence can mean allowing in the rougher edges of life. The voices that you’ve been stuffing away finally think they can get your attention. The urge to shush them up with another scroll through your email is just too seductive. Yet sooner or later they will bring to your knees. You can either deal with them now or deal with them later

We need more creativity and less consuming

This “always busy” mode partly comes from an underlying cultural belief that our economy cannot grow unless we are always consuming. Yet, it’s becoming clear that the financial crisis is being caused by the over-consumption of things we can’t afford such as cheap mortgages. The environmental crisis is being caused by the over-consumption of things we can’t afford such as the earth’s resources. The health crisis is being caused by the over-consumption of things we can’t afford, such as calories. It seems as if the whole underlying belief of endless consumption is the problem.

Maybe what we really need are some new ideas. More creativity and less consuming.

What would it take to give yourself some “down time”?

A great way to kill creative inspiration is to have no “down time”. If your whole life is about rushing from one obligation to the next, there is no chance for greater wisdom to enter your consciousness. Even if you only take 10 minutes at the beginning of every day to sit quietly uninterrupted, it can make all the difference. Walking silently by the ocean or in nature is another great way to reconnect to your creativity. Be warned however, that you may first need to pay heed to the shadows of your life before you can find peace. Peace sometimes needs to be earned. You may need to allow the negative voices to die away first, and sometimes those voices will fight to hold on.

Breathe through it, hold the hand of the part of you that needs to die away. All things must eventually die to make room for the next. Make a habit of quiet time and you will create space for inspiration and for what’s the next best step.

Sometimes having guidance, a supportive community, a natural setting and a break from your regular life—to REALLY reinvent your life. If so, join us for our Artistry of Change 4-day retreat at Hollyhock on Cortes Island, BC, Canada, October 1-4, 2009.