This youtube video is so inspiring! The folks at Volkswagon believe that the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better is by making tasks fun to do. Simply called The fun theory.
Do you have an idea that uses fun to help change behaviour? Volkswagon invites you to easily enter the contest.
Just find your own evidence for the theory that fun is the best way to change behavior for the better--for yourself, the environment or something else. Then email Volkswagon. The contest ends December 15.
Having Fun Makes Learning Easier
In an article by Daniel R. Hawes, November 3, 2009 on the Psychology Today Blog, he wrote that all positive emotions have one thing in common: “They broaden one’s perspective and motivate one to do things that will build skills or resources for the future.”
When you're having fun, you're at least more inspired to naturally change your behavior. What the Volkswagon piano steps experiment found was that 66% of the people changed their behavior by taking the fun stairs instead of the escalator that was right next to it.
When I was in Verona, Italy this past September studying Italian whenever we played word games, the feeling dramatically changed in the room, even though we were adults over 19 years of age (some of us far beyond 19!). It was as though the synapses in our brains were rapidly firing, our hearts expanding as we laughed and banned together trying to find the matches for adjectives with opposite meanings.
With our flashcards, we’d find the words as quickly as we could use our dictionaries, or remember definitions. We’d connect the cards to create a circle on the table with the adjectives (aggettivi). To make the game even more fun, the class was divided into two teams competing to finish first. It wasn’t as though we were going to win any award, but the game made us forget about the struggles we were having learning to speak a foreign language.
This month I’ve heard several clients and friends mention that they haven’t taken enough time to have fun. One friend said that when she works, she’s just nose to the grindstone and forgets to have any fun, because she’s so worried about money all the time.
Have you forgotten to have more fun in your life? Even if you’re not concerned about changing your behaviour, doesn’t it just feel better to take time out each day to play? How could you even make your work more fun?
