Comments on: Interview with Bernie deKoven

By: My Life in Play and Work | DeepFUN

My Life in Play and Work | DeepFUN — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:25:05 +0000

[...] You can read the interview here. [...]

By: Theo Tonca

Theo Tonca — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:37:04 +0000

I can speak from experience that when i’m happy i’m at my best and when i’m unhappy nothing gets done.

By: ACS

ACS — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 05:30:22 +0000

Throughout the interview Mr. DeKoven stresses that “play�? and “fun�? are important in the workplace. He establishes a positive relationship between playing and happiness in stating that playing “makes us happier because it allows us to have fun together�? and “because we are most thoroughly ourselves when we are playing, because we experience our health, emotionally, physically, socially.�? These explanations seem logical, but Mr. DeKoven does not provide any statistical evidence in his interview to support his theory. Regression results showing the relationship between the amounts of time spent playing in the workplace and the workers’ job satisfaction, for instance, would perhaps make his argument clearer and more convincing. In addition, Mr. DeKoven only presents the advantages of playing and having fun at work from the employees’ point of view. It is not clear if the workers’ job satisfaction and their productivity are positively-related. Are happy workers indeed better workers? If there is empirical evidence showing that they are, then employers have an incentive to support “play�? and “fun.�?

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:23:20 +0000

Once I was waiting in an office for an appointment. All the employees worked in the same room – a single-floor street-level office. All of a sudden music started to play and a beach ball started floating around. Everyone got up and joined in a circle to keep the beach ball in the air. I was incredulous. At the end of five minutes a timer went off and everyone went back to their desks. I’ll never forget that it was so inspiring. I thought it would be a great place to work!

By: Pamela

Pamela — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:26:56 +0000

I think playing can be good for everyone in the workplace. A small time maybe enough to get the workplace back on track. It will be helpful for those who think that their job is boring.