I’m working with a startup that recently purchased a used fussball table for $200. To me, it was a brilliant decision by senior management.

While you may accuse me of being overly dramatic, the reality is the fussball table has made a huge impact on the corporate culture and, arguably, employee morale and productivity.

In the pre-fussball days (aka PFB), employees would socialize by getting together in the kitchen or by going out for coffee. Now, they gather around the fussball table.

The office is louder but it’s also more fun, collegial and energy-filled. In a work environment in which people are expected to work hard and produce, the fussball table has become the perfect social break in the action.

What I find fascinating about startups and their willingness to install fussball tables, ping-pong tables, video games and pinball machines is how play is part of the work scene.

No one bats an eye when a startup encourages employees to take a break to play games during the day. It’s almost as if it is a bad thing if you don’t want to play.

It makes you wonder why most large companies are anti-play.

At the big company, people are expected to work. They sit at their desks or perhaps in meeting rooms so they can do important work. Once a day, they are released into the wild to descend upon the food court or the local strip mall to consume fast food.

So why is it you don’t find ping-pong tables or fussball tables at large companies, where as startups, which operate a lot leaner and meaner, have them as standard equipment?

Why do startups embrace fun while larger businesses have a no-fun policy, unless you count gathering around the water cooler as fun?

It may have to do with expectations. At a startup, failure is a very real possibility so it may be important to create outlets so people can take a break in the action. At large companies, there is less risk and far more structure so why give people an outlet that would be distracting and anti-work?

If I were the CEO of a large company, which is highly unlikely, I’d install fussball tables on every floor, and encourage people to take a play break. Not only would it make work more fun but I bet that employees morale and productivity would go way up.

What do you think? Why do startups let people play games? What’s in it for startups? What’s in for employees?