Mice Have More Fun

“Mice Run for Fun, Not Just Work, Research Shows.”  

This recent New York Times headline stirred my curiosity.  As I read on I was delighted to find that mice actually are motivated to run on an exercise wheel.  They don’t run—as long suspected—out of neurotic behavior or some overstressed condition; they are drawn to the wheel because of the fun reward the little squeally ones receive.

Two researchers in the Netherlands placed exercise wheels outdoors in a garden and an area of dunes and monitored the activity with motion detectors and cameras.  The pivotal question to be answered in the research-- would mice go to and run on a wheel if they were outside and free to do as they pleased?  Would mice seek the fun of the wheel?

Resoundingly yes!  The mice sought out the wheel as an athlete runs to the gym.  

“When I saw the first mice I was extremely happy”, said Johanna H. Meijer at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.  She observed mice hopping on, hopping off and then hopping back on the wheel.

Other renowned researchers have commented on Meijer’s work and likewise concluded that wheel running is some type of rewarding behavior.

Huda Akil, co-director of the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan, who has studied reward systems, said, “It’s not a surprise.  All you have to do is watch a bunch of little kids in a playground or park.  They run and run and run.”

I like having fun.  I flat out enjoy enjoyment.  And I have observed over the years whether I was involved in accounting, manufacturing, consulting or NASBA, that employees enjoying their work—having fun—are more productive, more dependable and more trustworthy.  

But let me give you more authoritative examples than my subjective analysis.

There are several highly respected organizations, including Fortune and Forbes, which recognize the top companies to work for in the U.S.  But my favorite top company report is put out by Rediff.com, a global on line shopping and information giant.  Their “5 Really Cool Companies to Work For” and a slice of employee comments and other rationale follow:

Microsoft

An employee says, “Imagine your life in a great college.  You have great teachers, you learn something new every day, you get to hang out with cool people, a great infrastructure makes you feel pampered and comfortable and you’re given a lot of freedom—to think, to imagine, to choose what you wish to learn, to be the master of your own career and to live the life that you’ve always dreamt of.”

MTV Music Television

At MTV the work ethic is strictly “work hard, play harder.” 

Facebook

FB provides toys for employees, footballs, snooker and table tennis equipment, in-house karaoke competitions and all-night hackathons (hacking contests for programmers).

The 120 Media Collective

Recommends its employees learn a foreign language and pays for it; allows sabbaticals to pursue higher education; employees allowed to switch to other departments to dabble in other projects.

Google

Google’s “awesome policies” include employee-friendly ambience, casual but intense workplace; flexible work hours, individual creativity and entrepreneurship, freedom to try new things.   One employee comments, “The focus on good quality work and ethics surpassed everything else.  Managers and seniors at every level were approachable.”

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One can’t help but be impressed with the common message emanating from these successful companies:  employees are more productive, more ethical, and more trustworthy when work is fun and the environment is employee-friendly.

Mice will run a long while for fun; so will children on a playground; so will you and your employees.  

David A. Costello

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