3. Joy

I have never witnessed a purer expression of joy than I did last year in Pilanesberg national park. It was close to sunset, the wind was picking up and you could sense the electricity of a storm in the air. As we came around a corner I saw a baby Rhino, not more than 4 or 5 months old dancing. Imagine the sight of a Rhino jumping from hind legs to front legs, as much as the podgy little body can muster. Every now and again he even managed to get all four legs in the air. A pure celebration of life in every pore and fiber of his existence. 

This type of experience, where joyful expectation spills over into boundless ecstasy is exactly the kind of feeling most offices and managers try and avoid. Joy is usually part of an after the fact celebration of achievements. The process and experience of work does not receive attention when it comes to the introduction and sustenance of joy.

For me however, joy is the engine of learning. Rudolf Steiner understood this and it has been practiced in Waldorf schools ever since. When you honour the human, the objective of the teacher is first and foremost to provide a path for students to find their own joy in the subject matter. For instance in music education the children are first exposed to music unconditionally. They find the rhythms and patterns themselves. If their interest grows from the joyfulness of the experience, they will add theory and more nuanced abilities in making music. The heart leads the lesson.

This view was also supported by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers. The emotional pleasure that people received from their commitment towards mastering a discipline, provides the engine to completing their own personal 10 000 hours. If it ain't fun, it won't get none. Joy keeps you learning.

The process of work is extremely good at killing this kind of joyful discovery. When consulting Pharma companies I found time and again that my client counterparts started of pursuing a career in Pharma because they saw deep meaning and the opportunity to impact many lives. As the years go by they become jaded and chase numbers and market shares. The human connection that at first gave meaning to their jobs is completely lost. 

Here are five ways in which a manager can enhance the ability of joy to affect commitment and performance in an organization:

1. Making work a pleasure. This is a strategy used by many tech start ups keen to keep top talent. Great free meals, massages and a bar is usually thrown into the mix.
2. Ensuring personal engagement. This is harder to do as it requires a bottom up collaborative effort. The inherent motives of staff are aligned in strategy and the team all know how the collective effort satisfies their higher needs. This is time consuming and tough but very successful in values based businesses like Etsy.
3. Strengthening personal relationships. The social contract of work is a strong incentive. By ensuring that their is a healthy personal dynamic between the team members, work becomes more rewarding. This is the unintended pay off from office christmas parties and picnics.
4. Building a business around real meaning. When employees feel that their efforts are contributing to the word in a meaningful way, every effort and late night becomes its own reward. They don't feel tired but even more motivated to make a difference. Apple operated on this principle for years. Increasing organisations are realising the importance of this factor when hiring millenials. For them work must equal meaning. Companies are judged on their values as much as their products.
5. Celebrating accomplishments. This has to move beyond the "employee of the month" mode of recognition. Quite often these schemes can become exclusionary and political. When a transparent and progressive system is found where real world impact is included in the measurement of the accomplishment, everybody benefits from positive norming.

Looking at this list there are many ways to ensure that joy becomes a journey and not just a destination. A central part of the organisational culture, rather than an isolated fringe experience. Perhaps we can all feel like the little Rhino a little more often when we face new challenges or explore new opportunities.