Odetics has had a Fun Committee since 1982. And on any given day, ODEX-I may be seen roaming the hallways. Management expert Tom Peters cites the late Bill Gore, founder of W.L. Gore Associates, and Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza, as two men who made fun an integral part of their successful organizations. Robert Levering, Milton Moscowitz and Michael Katz give many examples of playfulness and fun in The Hundred Best Companies to Work for in America. Other experts have also recommended laughter, jokes and joy in general as essential tools of management - for defusing tension, making meetings more productive and improving creativity.
Research supports the idea that joy and play can be especially beneficial to creativity.
Similarly, Mary Ann Glyn, assistant professor of organizational behaviour at Yale University, discovered that people who see problems as games come up with more creative solutions than those who consider the same problems as work. To get some answers Psychology Today turned to organizational psychologist and consultant David Abramis, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and human resources at the School of Business Administration at California State University, Long Beach, a leading researcher in the field. Usually, when I ask people questions that evoke significant details about their work, the answers come quickly. But when I ask them about fun, they often slow down. People generally don't think about work in terms of fun.