An interesting bit of self-serving research comes from scientists in Utrecht, who discovered that an hour a day of fairly lame computer games can increase productivity and job satisfaction. Researchers allowed a target group of corporate employees to play up to an hour of computer games each day at work (they chose when), while a control group was not allowed to play at all…just work. The game-playing group showed higher levels of job satisfaction.
Set aside the fact that they had to play goofy Windows games like Solitaire and Minesweeper, and there’s an irony in here somewhere. I’ve seen so many examples of process-numb administrative staff at professional nonprofit arts organizations…mailing lists, flyer photocopying, pencil counting, memo-writing, board-packet preparing, and on and on.
Somewhere in our struggle to become corporate and office-like, we can easily forget that this work is a blast. We get to work with astounding artists, eager volunteers, and other passionate people with a common love for an art form. When we can remember and recognize that joyous potential (and when management finds ways to reconnect their staff to it), we don’t need a round of Donkey-Kong to make work fun.
