Customer Reviews

The Game of Work: How to Enjoy Work As Much As Play

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Ten years ago, I worked for a company which was in the midst of a culture crisis. Part of this crisis was due to the owner's insistence on managing from afar and not allowing skilled managers to make decisions based on local needs. This crisis came to a head when the owner met the author of this book on a ski - lift.

The main premise of the author's "philosophy" is this: people play(read: work) harder during their time off than they do at their jobs. [I'm alright with this part.] The reason being, according to the author, is that nobody keeps score at work. This, of course, is patently ridiculous. Almost every company keeps score on their employees in some way and most of us enjoy 'sports' in our off-time that don't keep score.

The author was brought in to train us in his "method'. Keep in mind that we already had complex yearly reviews and most managers were selected after they had met certain criteria in personality tests. Some people may be intrigued by the author's writing but his personal style is boorish. He typically ate while he lectured and his constant reliance on record - breaking sports events as an example of what people at work should do every day not only alienated non - sports minded people but showed the second major weakness in his philosophy. Guys get paid millions of dollars for getting a hit 30% of the time - not grand slams every time they come up to bat. But that was the author's next premise - that we had to perform these types of record feats everyday. (This strategy is not restricted merely to the author, sadly, but seems to be a major strategy of most US companies.)

The author had a difficult time with me especially as most of my hobbies involve physical activities in which one does not keep score - surfing, hiking, gardening, etc. I actually argued the contrary to the author's philosophy - that people actually played harder than they worked precisely because no one was keeping score when they played, as I stated above. However, discussing this with the author was like the narrator of "This Is Spinal Tap" questioning the notion of 'this one goes to 11' with Nigel. The author just kept repeating his litany about needing to keep score.

We started measuring anything that could be measured - this was keeping score. Then, because they could be measured they had to be reduced. Things that were vital to the integrity of the product were cut back on in order 'to win'. The product (and product reputation)was damaged and some of the better people soon left the company. Eventually, we careened into other changes in company philosophy and left this "Game" behind. Sadly, none of these philosophies helped- but that is another matter.

This author's work is dreck. You would do better to read Scott Adams and do exactly the opposite of Catbert, Ratbert, and the Pointy - Haired Boss. Make it interesting, make it fun, treat people with respect and people will work hard. They may still work harder at play but that is probably human nature. After all, there are words for "work" and "play" - they are not one. Keeping score doesn't really play into it.

Mr Coonradt's premise is that people are motivated to work well when they can keep score against very straightforwardly measurable goals. To bolster this argument, Conraadt points to what people do in their leisure time, claiming that people like and are motivated to do their leisure activities more than their work because score keeping and measurement in these leisure activities is very simple. He also claims that people who don't concentrate on their scores -- and in particular how they measure up against other people -- are "losers".

One clear problem with this argument is that the book totally and absolutely ignores the fact that many people the world over spend their precious leisure time engaged in activities where "scoring" and objective measurement doesn't even enter into the equation. think of artistic endeavors -- surely a very important area of human activity! In many aspects of arts (most?) scoring and measurement don't have a place at all -- is Van Gogh measurably better than Cezanne? Indeed, that very kind of thinking is anathema to artistic creation. Or think of the hobbies of reading, playing music, listening to music, watching plays, watching dance, painting, photography, etc. etc. etc. Why do people engage in these activities with such dedication when there is no measuring or scoring of any sort going on? Even if you grant the author his sports-myopic-vision, there are many sporting activities where scoring isn't important to the majority of participants, or isn't present at all -- fishing, sailing, kayaking, horseback riding, hiking, etc etc etc. Granted some people do these "non-scoring" sports in scoring settings.... but I would argue the vast majority of participants do not. There are far more recreational trail riders than there are grand prix show jumpers or racing jockeys: there are far more people who just "putter" in their boats than people who race competitively.

So, really the author's argument largely applyies only if you limit your thinking to a subset of sporting activity (itself a subset of what he should in fact be looking at and examining) and ignore the characteristics of a broad swath of the activities that humans in fact find deeply satisfying. He's focused on a very, very limited slice of life and basically writes-off people who are motivated by things other than simple scores.

Meanwhile, many companies provide their employees with very clear score-keeping parameters and the jobs involved are miserable (I've had experience of that myself in spades!!). Bottom line: when I applied this book's arguments to myself and what I have seen in my 20 year career -- what I find rewarding, what jobs I've found most satisfying, the environments and practices that make people thrive -- the arguments just didn't ring true to me. It certainly would be very comforting to think that constructing a rewarding, highly productive and humane work environment could be this simple -- that there's a magic bullet like this -- but I think how humans approach jobs and how we respond to work environments are just like everything else in human life -- complex and, at times, bewildering. And it also seems to me that American business in these times needs more of the kind of complex, nuanced analysis and judgment that belong in the sphere of the arts rather than the simple score-keeping of football or baseball. There are many good business books out there that acknowledge that and give better advice on how to navigate this area.

This was required reading by my manager. I'm always skeptical in those situations, but it came highly recommended. And now that we've all read it and tried to implement the suggestions, I can say there has been a noticeable difference in the way each employee approaches work. People seem more motivated and excited about their jobs than before. I think every business could benefit from Coonradt's ideas which inspire and inject fun into the often-mundane job experiences.

Totally a fun read, so logical & practical I wonder where this has been all my business life. Work should be more fun, and the author unlocks the secrets that everyone needs to really enjoy their jobs. Great stories, examples strike home with any sports lover. Would love to see a followup helping to implement these concepts into a company. I've read it twice and plan to read it again. Very exciting stuff!!

Chuck Coonradt's principles in this book are over 33 years old, they haven't changed, and are just as applicable today. This is just one point of credibility for The Game of Work and the training program to help workers, managers, and their companies significantly increase fun, productivity, reward, profits and reduce loss.

This book should be a must read and its companion program should be a required course at every university in the world.

After just a little research, I found hundreds of companies that have benefitted from this book and trainings by Mr. Coonradt's company, which is cleverly named, The Game of Work. He could write another book and just fill it with hundreds of pages of case studies and endorsements from thousands of workers and hundreds of managers, CEOs, VPs or "coaches."

These are folks at worldwide giants like Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola, Boeing and AT&T. They are workers and managers in your hometown and cities all over the country who started keeping score The Game of Work way and quickly found themselves much happier and excited to be at work winning.

Charles A. Coonradt is to the business world what Vince Lombardi, Phil Jackson, and John Wooden were and are to the sports world!

If you enjoy hearing far right wing republican screed this is the book for you.
A stone hearted writer who pushes a right wing line the book suffers from an author more interested in scoring political points and alienating readers than in actually offering anything recognizably intelligent.

Terrible!!!!

Some say the premise of the book is that people will pay to play harder than they work when they are paid. However, the important message here is to make sure employees(including you) know how to rate whether he/she won or lost that day. They need to know what poor, good, and outstanding look like so that they can rate themselves every day, every week, and every review period. There may still be a lot of "Yes, I failed but the reasons are X,Y and Z" and the manager and the employee have to hash that out. If you, as a manager, spend the time to create the scorecard and keep it relevant to the actual goals of the company, it works. I've seen it be successful over and over. It makes it much easier to rate/review a person's performance if they can do it themselves AND it's accurate. The next step is to let them write their own performance review before you give them the one you did. Compare the two if you're using the Game of Work and see if you've done a good job setting goals and expectations.

The pity is that managers in the U.S. are getting so bad that they don't know how to make it relevant, or worse, don't even know what winning and losing looks like in their own companies. I agree, Coonradt's presentations could be more interesting but the substance is there, even if you don't like the form.

More, better, faster. This is an excellent book for getting the most out of your resources in business and in life. What gets measured gets done, and this book shows you "how" to measure so you can truly excel in performance and results, and the process of enhancing performance becomes a fun game rather than a tedious "should". I got great value from all of the real world examples in the book which opened my mind to unlimited ways to apply this to any business or individual. I'm going to start using it in my real estate business right away. I'm recommending it to all of my friends. These tools clearly increase any bottom line result, and in less time. Note to the author: It would be great if you could make the score cards and game sheets available as free downloads on your website. I've come to expect this type of "freebie" from business books that reference forms tools.

After reading this book, I can understand how corporate America is soooo screwed up. I can only imagine how productive America would be if every company played by the models of this book.

This book was exceptional, I think it hit everything right on. I really enjoyed this book, Mr. Coonradt is brilliant, he covered everything in detail and it made sense, he offers such great advise. I have taken the things in this book and have implimented them into my life and work life.