Posted by Yogesh Malhotra on May 22, 1998 at 14:19:33:

In Reply to: Re: Sharing Learning While Having Fun posted by Jim Murray on May 22, 1998 at 12:31:56:

Jim,

Thanks for your comments. The notion of ‘fun and enjoyment’ as enablers of the knowledge sharing process has been a key component of research on organizational behavior, organizational commitment and educational psychology over the last two decades . Specifically, ‘fun and enjoyment’ are considered as the key characteristics indicating the highest levels of intrinsic motivation. Based on anecdotal evidence from some hi-tech companies, one may also consider ‘fun and enjoyment’ as key components that enable other softer aspects of knowledge management such as trust building.

Usually ‘fun’ is considered opposite of [compliance based] ‘work,’ and that relates to issues such as companies deploying software programs that restrict such ‘fun’ activities such as PC-based games and other non-job related web browsing activities. However, that may not necessarily be generalizable to all work contexts. ‘Fun and enjoyment’ underlie a number of creative and industrious efforts in industry -- in the form of ‘skunk works’ and ‘samurai teams’ that take on the most challenging and path-breaking projects having long-term implications for organizational performance. The notion of strategy games, ‘business war games,’ and ‘military games’ are also related to ‘fun and enjoyment’ in that they simulate real world in an environment that attempts to draw the best out of people.

For related discussions on this topic, one may like to review the discussions on Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Rewards for Performance related to Knowledge Sharing under the following message:

http://www.brint.com/wwwboard/messages/1760.html

Prior discussions on intrinsic motivaiton and organizational control issues have also touched on this point.

Best of luck in your endeavors in adding some ‘fun and enjoyment’ for doing it better than ‘work as usual.’

Sincerely,

Yogesh Malhotra

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