I think this gets closer to why the slogan appealed to me in the first place. Enjoying the work makes it much easier to imagine still wanting to do it years from now.
Really enjoyed working on this one and satisfying my own curiosity as to whether ‘you can’t compete with someone who is having fun’ is really the hill we all seem to want to die on :)
I believe that to be the case - when you find yourself in deep fun there’s an element of resilience and endurance that comes in. You become the tortoise rather than the hare
In corporate and solo, I think there are different Maslow hierarchies of sorts - surely there’s research on this - and fun is close to the top. It’s hard to have fun when you’re desperate for cash, have no psychological safety, or as you said lacking “difficult problems you can genuinely own”
To your point, what a privilege to be working at the top of the pyramid, if we are! Good reminder.
I think that’s an important part of it. I’ve had periods running businesses where enjoying the work barely entered my head because keeping the lights on was taking up all the space.
I'm fortunate to have a job where a lot of fun is built into it, until it's not. And when it goes away, it becomes a slog. And although I try to find that fun again, it's difficult.
So I always remind my team to make sure you have something outside of work that fills your bucket, that brings you joy, and how I can help you make time and energy for it. Because that's the constant you can't let go of.
I’ve definitely had periods where work stopped being fun and I kept expecting work itself to fix that. Sometimes you need something completely separate from it.
Admitting you wanted the answer to be yes before you went looking at the evidence is a rare thing to put in writing, and it makes me trust the rest of it. The question of who can afford to factor enjoyment into their work at all is the part I'll be thinking about.
Yes. There’s an “endurance” aspect to this - which I believe is what Adam Grant is also alluding to as a consequence of deep flow work
I think this gets closer to why the slogan appealed to me in the first place. Enjoying the work makes it much easier to imagine still wanting to do it years from now.
Really enjoyed working on this one and satisfying my own curiosity as to whether ‘you can’t compete with someone who is having fun’ is really the hill we all seem to want to die on :)
I’m glad you went digging because I desperately wanted the slogan to be true 😅 Turns out reality had a few conditions attached.
I’ll keep an eye for the next post that sends me into a rabbit hole :)
When you are having fun at your work, the person competing against you, will have a hard time keeping up with you.
I believe that to be the case - when you find yourself in deep fun there’s an element of resilience and endurance that comes in. You become the tortoise rather than the hare
I think Daphne’s research gives us permission to keep believing that, just with a few footnotes attached.
Love this! Thank you for the deep dive!
In corporate and solo, I think there are different Maslow hierarchies of sorts - surely there’s research on this - and fun is close to the top. It’s hard to have fun when you’re desperate for cash, have no psychological safety, or as you said lacking “difficult problems you can genuinely own”
To your point, what a privilege to be working at the top of the pyramid, if we are! Good reminder.
I think that’s an important part of it. I’ve had periods running businesses where enjoying the work barely entered my head because keeping the lights on was taking up all the space.
And that’s a very hard place to be. The question itself is laced in privilege. And yet it’s an important question to explore.
indeed. What a priviledge
I'm fortunate to have a job where a lot of fun is built into it, until it's not. And when it goes away, it becomes a slog. And although I try to find that fun again, it's difficult.
So I always remind my team to make sure you have something outside of work that fills your bucket, that brings you joy, and how I can help you make time and energy for it. Because that's the constant you can't let go of.
Such a great build ! Thank you for sharing it
I’ve definitely had periods where work stopped being fun and I kept expecting work itself to fix that. Sometimes you need something completely separate from it.
Admitting you wanted the answer to be yes before you went looking at the evidence is a rare thing to put in writing, and it makes me trust the rest of it. The question of who can afford to factor enjoyment into their work at all is the part I'll be thinking about.
Thank you @Melanie Goodman - I thought it was important to state both points upfront.
It’s very easy to say “do work you enjoy” when someone actually has the freedom to choose. Plenty of people don’t.
While enjoyment can boost motivation, creativity, and resilience, it’s important to recognize that work’s value isn’t solely defined by fun
I think I’d get into trouble quite quickly if I only kept the parts of work I enjoyed. 😅
Balancing enjoyment with necessity is key to sustainable success.
I’ve certainly had stretches where enjoyment had to wait until after the invoices were paid. 🫣