Posted On October 14, 2016

It’s a cliché to say you work hard and you play hard.

But at Flat World Holdings, it’s not a cliché. We believe in play. We have team potlucks, happy hours, golf, and more. Even our collaborative fundraisers have a huge element of play. If you don’t believe us, ask many of our team members what their workspaces looked like while we raised money for our friend Natalie and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For a small donation, you could decorate a team member’s workspace. Needless to say, our team jumped at the opportunity. But play isn’t just for fun. It makes us better at what we do.

Think about it. Where did you learn how to laugh, cooperate, support your friends, and use your imagination to solve a problem? On the playground. And what skills are important to thrive on a team, and to best serve your customers? A sense of humor.

Cooperation.

Support.

Creative problem solving.

And those aren’t the only reasons we incorporate play into our work. We do important work here at Flat World Holdings, and we strive to do it excellently. Our customers are under tight timelines when it comes to moving their products around the world. We are also a rapidly growing business, with even more aggressive future growth goals. If we didn’t incorporate play as a team, we might burn out quickly. We might get on the phone with a customer and overreact or say something we regret. Each one of us is human, and there is always the potential to say the wrong thing at the wrong moment due to stress or anxiety.

However, in business, making that mistake with a customer can result in a damaged relationship, and even more damaging word of mouth.

So we play. We golf. We socialize after work. We do goofy things to raise money for good causes. We strive to make our environment one that people want to be a part of—for our team members, and for our customers. Plus, life is too short. So be happy, and be excellent. With your customers, and with your Nerf gun.