Rules Successful Companies Use to Attract and Keep Top Talent

10. Make Room for Fun in the Workplace (Nurture Lightheartedness/Levity)

A few months ago I was traveling on an American Airlines flight between Chicago and home. As luck would have it, I was served a cup of sparkling water by a very pleasant, smiling, and chatty cabin attendant. Looking for something to read, I pulled the house magazine, American Way, from the seat-back pocket. As I scanned the contents of the periodical, my attention was drawn to a one-page review of a business book written to promote levity in the workplace. The book was described as a call to companies and their leaders to “lighten up.”

The review was appealing, and it brought back a memory of my earliest days in corporate America. I was 25 years old and working for Westinghouse ...