Mike Gort, writing in LO15077, said (in a most excellent post on games,
computers, work, and the like - Thanks Mike!):
>Then, today, the New York Times published an article titled
>"On the Office PC, Bosses Opt For All Work, and No Play."
This cited the recent government edict (as proposed by Lauch Faircloth,
another of the North Carolina Republicans) that made it against the law to
use a computer for "games" while at work in Federal Government. This
little bit of PR got reported worldwide - I gave a copy of an article from
the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia newspaper to my friend Mike Robinson who is
planning to run against this guy.
Mike Gort is right on in his long and descriptive post. Compliance to
policies, rules, regulations, processes and procedures isn't much fun for
the customer nor the employee and worst of all, it doesn't make good
sense. It also seems that it is what is most often WRONG about
"government work."
Interestingly, this month's issue of Corporate University Review had a
nice article on the importance of fun in the workplace when it comes to
creativity and innovation. Interesting juxtaposition of issues, eh?
Research supports the reality that improved morale, creativity, process
improvement and the like are more likely to occur in a non-repressive work
environment -- yet many organizations seem to be moving in other
directions.
I'm NOT saying that people should spend all or even much time at their
computer playing "games" - I don't do that at all and don't even have any
installed on my harddrive.
But Trust is the Residue of Promises Fulfilled.
And most workers may not seem to find much faith in the fact that the BOSS
(again, spell that backwards for a more descriptive definition) doesn't
trust them to do what is right and to be productive. COMPLIANCE gained
from putting a gun to their heads will not produce much long-term good,
and that making work LESS fun is certainly counter-productive in most
organizations.
Even Caterpillars can fly if they just lighten up.
If The BOSS would view things a bit differently, the organization might
fly higher as opposed to crawling along in the ditch of mud.
One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
-HELEN KELLER
We need to foster creativity, problem solving and process improvement in
most organizations much more than we need to control the minute-to-minute
activities of the workers with oppressive systems and processes like Mike
Gort cited.
The Square Wheels really are everywhere and the round ones
already in the wagon are only viewed as heavy cargo.
Let the games begin,
-- For the FUN of It!Scott Simmerman Performance Management Company 3 Old Oak Drive, Taylors, SC 29687 (USA) 864-292-8700 fax 292-6222 SquareWheels@compuserve.com
visit The Lost Dutchman at http://www.clicknow.com/stagedright/dutchman/
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>