Stop having fun at work? That's what Joan O'C. Hamilton urges, writing in Business Week E.Biz (May 15, 2000).

The thrust of her article is that "workers -and their families -can do with less company-sponsored merriment." "Can We Stop Having Fun Yet?" the headline blares. She reports examples of organized, employer-sponsored fun-and-games, then ends with this: "I must close with a sentiment that I've heard muttered at plenty of (Silicon) Valley shindigs: 'Wouldn't it be great if we could just have the cash they spent on all this?'

I'll give Hamilton this: There certainly are people who go too far in goofing off. And there are workplaces where having fun gets turned into having frat parties. Hamilton, in her column, says, "...I am here today to speak for the victims. The poor, downtrodden employees yearning to go home. The party-pooping, costume- hating working stiffs."

The reality is that too few people are having fun at work. And there is plenty of evidence (in addition to common sense) that suggests employees who have fun at work also make more money for their employers. Hamilton, referring to comments from bankroller George Zachery of Mohr, Davidow Ventures, writes, "he notes that the real game is making money, not mischief." Well, the fact is that people who are having fun in their work are helping make the money grow.

It's just possible that working stiffs (to some degree, isn't that all of us drawing paychecks?) can have fun now and then while they work, just as professional athletes get some pleasure in their work. Here's Paul Sullivan, writing in the Chicago Tribune of Sammy Sosa's slamming a two-run home run to tie a game with the White Sox: "...Sosa hopped high into the air and instantly went into airplane mode, running to first with his arms extended outward like a little kid in his back yard." What's wrong with working stiffs enjoying their work like little kids in their back yards?

Nothings wrong with it! In fact, it makes good, bottom line business sense to encourage fun at work. Here's some evidence for Hamilton and other scowling naysayers:

•  Ninety-six percent of execs (in a survey by Accountemps) believe people with a sense of humor do better in their jobs than those who have little or no sense of humor. (HRFocus, Feb. '93) 
• Employees who take part in silly games think more creatively and develop more innovative solutions to problems. A Cornell University study found that people who'd just seen a funny movie increased their "creative flexibility." (HR Focus, Feb. '93)
•  Employees with the Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, after viewing humorous training films and attending workshops, showed a 25% decrease in downtime and a 60% increase in job satisfaction. (HR Focus, Feb. '93)
•  Twenty middle managers at Digital Equipment Corp., in Colorado Springs, increased their productivity by 15% and reduced their sick days by half...in the nine months following a workshop conducted by a humor consultant. (HR Focus, Feb. '93)
•  A survey of 329 company executives found that 97% agreed that humor is valuable in business...and 60% felt that a sense of humor can be a deciding factor in determining how successful a person can be in the work world. Another survey found that 84% of personnel directors interviewed said that employees with a sense of humor do better work. (Terry Braverman, Training and Development magazine, July '93.)
•  An HR survey found that a majority of workers think their offices are too bleak. ("Let the Good Times Roll: Building a fun culture," in Harvard Management Up- date.)
•  Here's one for Hamilton and other sour skeptics to consider: Pessimists die earlier. That's the conclusion of a study of 839 patients who originally came to the Mayo Clinic in the early 1960s. They were given a detailed personality test, including an optimism-pessimism scale. Researchers followed up 30 years later. They found that the optimists in the tested group lived longer than the pessimists. (Mayo Clinic Proceedings)
•  For those, like Hamilton and people she quotes, who grouse that they'd rather have the money than the fun...consider the study by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.. In a test, the manager of special accounts marketing offered cash rewards to half the participants in the test. He offered non-cash rewards to the other half of the participants. Those participating were sales associates and managers at 900 company-owned stores and service centers. Result: Those rewarded with non-cash produced results almost 50% greater than those offered just cash.

The studies confirm that almost always people will forget the little extra money...but will remember, and appreciate, the little extra fun.