by Eddie Pipkin
I was struck by the headline in a recent news scroll on my phone. “Am I fun enough?” Before I clicked it, I thought maybe it was going to be a playful challenge to parents (because we all know that as parents we’re supposed to be all about the fun) or, since it was Valentine’s week, maybe a challenge to people in romantic relationships (because we all know the first thing our significant others like to say about us how much fun we are). But it turned out this pointed bit of self-analysis was aimed squarely at bosses. As a boss are you fun enough? As a team leader, do you bring the merriment? It turns out that as people trickle back into the office and some sense of normalcy returns – at least three days a week, on average, that is —the people in charge are once again having to think up ways to bring joy to team building and whimsical energy to the workplace. Or are they?
Here’s the article that originally caught my attention, “You’re Good at Your Job But Are You Fun Enough?” from The Wall Street Journal. It’s paywall-protected, so you probably won’t be able to read it, but I was surprised to see that the central idea it communicated was that “no fun should ever be mandatory.” I had start