Last Monday night I was fighting a cold and having a hard time sleeping, so I was surfing the late night talk shows. This skit with Josh Groban was on the Jimmy Kimmel show. (I promise, only the first tweet has potentially offensive language):



I’m sure it was partly the virus and the lack of sleep, but I laughed until my voice was gone. The next morning I found the clip on YouTube and posted it on my Facebook wall, then laughed myself silly for the rest of the week. A couple of friends joined me and the silliness entered all of our posts and conversations. It was one of the highlights of the week.

I’m not usually that goofy, but apparently I really needed it! I also needed to be reminded of the importance of having fun with what you do. Josh Groban is a tremendously talented crossover artist, having success in several musical genres as well as acting roles on television and more recently in movies. But clearly he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Part of what I love about this video is that he does this goofy singing with just as much enthusiasm as his more serious performances. The “playing” seems to be as important as the work, maybe even a part of the work. What a concept!

This week I’m remembering why I started doing my job: it’s fun. It’s like playing. Of course I know that sometimes I need to focus on practical things like my accounting or marketing, but it’s even more important to make sure I’m enthusiastic about my work, and the best way to do that is to have fun with it, to not take myself too seriously, and to be a little goofy.

What do you think? Is there room for goofy silly stuff in your work? Do you enjoy your work? What makes it fun for you? (And do you know where to find marble conference tables? Sorry, I couldn’t resist! :0)