How To Design A Funner Workplace
What makes people addicted to slot machines and video games?
- The intermittent rewards that come from playing them.
Your brain gets a rush of dopamine every time a slot machine tells you you've won, or when a game gives you a sweet prize from doing certain tasks.
- HEY I JUST WON COINS FROM SLOTS
- I WANT THAT WINNING FEELING AGAIN
- I KEEP PLAYING
The Dopamine Rush
On the surface, drugs, video games, and slot machines don't addict people; instead, the rush in more dopamine rushing through people's brains addicts them to those activities.
- People scour the internet aimlessly looking for that next quick fix, giving them the increased dopamine rush, and driving them to explore the Internet further.
Yet, doing activities that provide them no long-term benefit ultimately destroys their morale; people aren't any happier after browsing the Web aimlessly or playing the slots until they come back to those activities.
You get a sustainably happier and more effective workforce when you combine the dopamine rush with long-term benefits that help company/customers/world.
How to Make Work Fun
If the dopamine rush happens infrequently, we move onto other activities that can give us that rush (e.g. employees browsing the Web instead of working on a customer's project).
DANG THIS BORING LETS DO SOMETHING ELSE
To get a more engaged workforce, design your company around intermittent rewards for doing things that rock the #@$#@ out your company, your customers, and the world; some examples:
- prizes for getting happy letters from customers/vendors/team-members
- ribbons for saving $X in costs
- points for finding ways to cut energy costs
- badges for helping customers win
The repeated rush in dopamine for every win fuels them to keep doing those beneficial activities.
You start channeling the dopamine rush to good things.
The world wins.
BAM
Channel dopamine for the good.
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Posted January 29 in Management, Life, Leadership, Innovation |
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5 Comments
on "How To Design A Funner Workplace"diamyaz (Rank: #6)
I wonder if I can work this kind of thing into my daily routine to help me stay more focused.Maybe I should put a bowl of Hershey's Hugs or something on my desk and periodically reward myself with one for reaching a certain point...Or create a point system for myself with inexpensive rewards on it once I reach a certain level.
Great tip!
mniffirg (Rank: #7)
I think a good thing to do is to set goals and reward yourself periodically.
Try to make it something that you would do anyways just kick it up a notch Dia.
Like instead of having your weekly Big Mac, eat at a sit in restaurant instead if you meet your goal.
zanderli (Rank: #5)
After a while wouldn't the dopamine rush be less awesome though? Like they'd build up an immunity and need bigger rewards to get the same rush?
e.ferg (Rank: #10)
I'm not sure how to combine mini rushes into long term pluses... Would that be something like giving them lots of mini rewards to turn in for a bigger one down the line? That seems like a good idea to keep people motivated to achieve...
hellotrash (Rank: #35)
As a leader knowing what gives your employees these rushes is important. I know Joe likes beer at 3:30, and I know that he has a project due at 5. It's 9A. I tell him get it done by 3:30 and we get beer. Excitement. He get's it done at 4. We still get beer. I tell him good work. But why, he was supposed to get it done at 3:30? I set harder goals to challenge my staff. If I say get it done by 5, then at 6 he is still cranking it out all tired and stuff. If I say 3:30 he cranks it and gets it done by 4 still an hour early.
Set goals, know necessary results. Gauge only by results(compared to the original goal) and reward yourself/your team for achieving them.