Core value · Joy family
Fun
Not taking it all too seriously
Also covers Amusement
What does fun mean as a core value?
Fun as a core value means bringing lightness, laughter and enjoyment into everyday life and work, especially with other people, so that even serious things feel worth doing together.
Fun, for you, is a sign that things are healthy. If a team can’t laugh together or a weekend is all logistics, something has gone wrong. You take the work seriously enough to do it well, but you won’t take yourself too seriously, and you notice when a room has got heavier than the situation needs. For you, amusement is part of how the real stuff gets done, and part of why people want to do it with you.
What does fun look like in practice?
- You turn a dull task into a small competition or a game.
- You organise the team social, and you make sure it’s something people actually want to go to.
- You’d take a slightly worse job with good company over a better one where nobody smiles.
- You ease a tense meeting with a well-timed aside.
- You say yes to the silly invitation, the fancy dress or the karaoke.
When is fun overplayed?
Fun can become a way of avoiding weight. A joke arrives just as a difficult conversation gets going, hard feedback gets softened into nothing, and the people who need seriousness from you read it as not caring. Some colleagues find constant levity tiring, or feel left outside it. Kept in proportion, it lets serious things stay serious for as long as they need, then brings lightness back when it helps the room. One thing you could try: when a joke rises in a hard conversation, wait a beat and ask a question instead.
Often confused with
Fun vs Playfulness
Playfulness is an experimental way of approaching things, and it can be quite serious. Fun is about the experience itself being light and enjoyable, usually with other people.
Fun vs Humour
Humour is noticing and sharing what’s funny. Fun is broader: the whole atmosphere of an evening or a team, whether or not anyone is telling jokes.
Fun vs Joy
Joy is a deep happiness that can be quiet and private. Fun is lighter, more social and more about the moment.
Questions to sit with
- When did you last use a joke to get out of a conversation you didn’t want to have?
- Which part of your life has quietly stopped being fun, and what would it take to change that?
- Who in your team finds your idea of fun more draining than enjoyable?
More values in Joy
Delight, lightness and enthusiasm for life.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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