I do not try to go out of my way to make work fun for my staff. So it makes my day when I receive random messages like these:

sorry, but fuck I'm so excited doing this hats task, i smiled a lot during the sketching phase, imagining what it could be and use by a lot of users lol

The task was to design cosmetic items that can be used to personalize one's profile on our platform. I described the tasks with Dota 2 in mind, and our designer plays Dota 2 every night. So you can imagine the elation that he has when his worlds come together.

And this teaches me a lesson. I would not have described it in the style of Dota 2 IF I did not know that our team-members were playing Dota 2 every night. And I knew because I cared enough to find out. It helps that as technical people, our hobbies often overlap.

Now I know when that motivation can be derived when work is infused with elements of happiness in their personal life,