The F+A Way: Keep Things Fun

At F+A, we take our work seriously — but ourselves? Not so much. 

Each week, a different team member leads a discussion inspired by one of F+A’s core cultural principles. A discussion topic I led this month: “Keep Things Fun.” It’s a good one; while our professionalism is top-tier, we also believe that daily laughter is a performance enhancer (and some might argue better than a third cup of coffee. I don’t know who those people are, but I might give them subtle side-eye). 

I’ll be 100% honest: “fun at work,” more often than not, sounds like one of those eyeroll-inducing, flavor-of-the-month corporate clichés. But… SCIENCE! A 2024 Forbes article lays it out: when we’re enjoying ourselves, our brains release dopamine, the same feel-good neurotransmitter that fuels motivation, creativity and learning. In other words, fun is not a distraction; it’s a productivity tool. 

This is the part where the research nerd in me gets all giddy: Gallup agrees, noting that highly engaged teams consistently outperform the rest in terms of productivity, quality, customer loyalty and profit. Meanwhile, the University of Warwick’s research found that happy employees are 12% more productive. We see that play out at F+A every day, whether we’re tag-teaming a client launch, cracking through a strategy session or figuring out which flavor of Sparkling Ice best fuels our brainstorms. 

Before I continue, please don’t confuse “fun at work” with the whole, “Oh, the director is in town from Guam, so, after a mind-numbingly grueling day, we’re all going out to eat together at a restaurant you’ll probably dislike. Also, if you bail at the last minute because you’d much rather drink wine with your dogs while wearing comfy pants and playing video games, you will most certainly not succeed at spending the rest of your career trying to get back on their good side.” Some organizations may (or may not) jokingly (or not-so-jokingly) refer to this phenomenon as “mandatory fun.” 

Our team at F+A genuinely embodies the great things that happen when people are empowered to bring their full and unfiltered selves to work, including their weird senses of humor, obscure playlists and love of office dogs. And on the occasions we’ve been out since I joined the firm in February, I’ve never once wished I could hide in the bathroom and doom scroll on my phone until the establishment closes. 

So, without further ado, I made a “training video,” which I shared with the team during our “Keep Things Fun” discussion entitled Workplace Fun: A Modern Necessity. The very serious (absolutely no way) and definitely not-at-all ridiculous training film (it totally knocks 1950s public service announcements right out of the park) taught us everything we needed to know about smiling, enjoying oneself while on the clock and embracing the radical idea that happiness and productivity actually can co-exist. 

*Disclaimer: In full transparency, much of the video below was created using various combinations of Generative AI. That’s why the dog on the left looks like he’s missing an ear. No actual dogs were used, taunted, tickled or distorted in the making of this video.