Fun Is Good: How to Create Joy & Passion in Your Workplace & Career

I really enjoy reading books like this. Mike Veeck is a guy who paved the way for creative thinking and "fun" marketing. His stories and insights are valuable for ALL businesses, not just sports. You will walk away from this book with the understanding that if you can just put some fun into your business, you'll be more successful. This book was a fun, quick read, and very inspiring. You will enjoy it.

Entertaining and funny, Mike Veeck provides passionate advice in achieving the "Fun Is Good" philosophy in the workplace. Fun is Good outlines Veeck's on and off career in minor league baseball and how the philosophy evolved his career to what it is today. Senior level executives from national companies and organizations share stories of relevant applications of the Fun is Good philosophy. Also, the summaries and exercises assist with tying in the points made in each chapter. The suggestions on how to integrate the work philosophy into every workplace are not always realistic for every business setting, but the work hard/play hard emphasis is certainly something to apply in any environment. It was a quick, conversational read that applies a unique business philosophy in order to creating a successful, enjoyable, and productive workplace.

Mike Veeck and Pete Williams will keep you laughing throughout the entire book. Great example why you shouldn't take yourself to seriously and have fun with life.

When I was 10 years, I wrote Bill Veeck--the innovative baseball promoter--a letter . . . he responded, and that began a period of occasional letters that ended when he died several years later . . . his creativity inspired me then--and still does to this day. I still chuckle at some of the things that Veeck did to enliven the game . . . he introduced exploding scoreboards, popularized postgame fireworks and provided nurseries at the ballpark for children . . . in addition, he staged special nights for every group imaginable and was the first to popularize ballpark giveways. His son, Mike Veeck, has carried on his legacy with a series of equally unique promotions that he writes about with co-author Pete Williams in FUN IS GOOD . . . but you don't have to be a baseball fan to love this book, in that the ideas contained can be applied to any profession . . . or as the subtitle points out, you'll learn HOW TO CREATE JOY & PASSION IN YOUR WORKPLACE & CAREER. Many times, authors promise outrageous things in their titles and/or subtitles . . . this is not the case here; Veeck and Williams actually show you how this can be done in a step-by-step approach that's both easy to follow and apply. I kept jotting notes down as I read FUN IS GOOD, which is always a good sign . . . it means that I plan to go back to use much of it . . . the only negative to this practice is that it makes it difficult to choose just a few ideas to share in this brief review, in that there were so many . . . yet that said, these tidbits did stand out: * If you're someone still trying to find your way, let your passions serve as your guide. Look for environments where people are having fun. When I hire people, I seek out passionate folks with an array of interests, no matter how eclectic. If I need an accountant, for instance, I don't look for just someone with the proper credentials. I go in search of an experienced accountant with other interests, someone I know might not only be fun to be around by perhaps have non accounting skills that might be valuable. Perhaps this person is a fly-fisherman or guitar player. That kind of focus and creativity manifests itself in the workplace * Jim Lucas, who was the assistant general manager of our Charleston RiverDogs team a few years ago, issued pins to 10 or 15 fans before each game, with instructions to give them to employees who provided great customer service. The 3 employees who collected the most pins at the end of the season received cash prizes. These pins cost us only about 60 cents apiece, but you would have thought they were precious gemstones. Employees proudly displayed them on hats and worked tirelessly to obtain them. Since nobody knew who had the pins, everyone was treated extraordinarily well by employees with upbeat attitude. * You don't need a ballpark to try things like Mime-O-Vision. [Veeck hired a bunch of mimes to reenact plays before instant replays became popular.] Years ago, people would win sh

This book was penned by the man who was lambasted for his Disco demolition stunt in Cominsky Park. In the middle of a doubleheader, the promoters put a box of disco records in the middle of the field with a bomb. When it exploded, fans ran onto the field and commenced creating their own disco record explosions. This eventually caused the cancellation of the second game is considered a travesty in baseball lore. However, it has become part of baseball lore. From a marketing standpoint, it was brilliant. How many marketing stunts have 25th anniversary DVDs? This is a book about embracing failure, laughing, trying something new, and of course having fun. The book largely follows Mike Veeck and his father's philosophies and antics with baseball (and a few other businesses they tried). It's a fun book that those who are a little disgruntled or inspired with their workplace should read. Surely, you will find something that will make you laugh and improve your own workplace.