HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-11-05, Page 36Funny Business
Sy Kay Marie Porterfield laugh, you can't make it
id you hear the one through."
about the personnel Goodman, who has served as
director and the a consultant to many businesses
brokenoco — including the Sacramento
machine? Do you Municipal Utility District, IBM
know how many and Bell Telephone in Denver .
accountants it takes to change a stresses that humor can be a
light bulb? Chartres are your potent problem -solver because it
answer to both questions is fosters creativity.
• no "There's a big relationship
There's.a reason for that. For between 'ah -ha' and 'ha-ha,' "
years, the world of business has he says. "We've seen that in the
been no laughing matter. The creative fields like advertising
experts told us there was no and high tech. It's time the
room for humor in the business community as a whole
workplace except for recognized how much wit and
occasionally humoring a creativity have in common. _
valuable but truculent employee. "A good joke hooks together
When they wanted us to get two widely different elements;
down to serious business they there's a sense of the absurd and
meant it — we were supposed to surprise, the same elements
be grim and bear it. involved in creative thinking.
Lately, however, those stern I'm convinced humor bridges the
arbiters of office decorum are gap between the right and left
laughing fromThe other side of hemispheres of the brain."
their faces. There's a good deal The paradox, irony and
of evidence that funny business exaggeration involved in joking
is good business. Used stretches our thinking power. In
consciously and with grace, wit fact, according to Jacqueline
can be one of the most effective Wonder and Priscilla Donovan,
management tools at an authors of "Whole Brain
executive's disposal. Thinking: Working From Both
Mirthless management is Sides of the Brain to Achieve
stress -provoking, but laughter Peak Job Performance," in order
may be one of the best to fully "get" a joke our entire
medicines around for reducing brain needs to be in gear. The
tension, according to research left side appreciates the logic
conducted by Dr. Jonathan Fry and wordplay involved, while
Jr., a clinical psychiatrist and the right catches the whimsy of
associate professor, of clinical subtleties and nuances.
psychology at Stanford Providing "humor breaks" for
University. employees during the course of
Fry's research shows that a the work routine and allowing
good laugh raises the pulse and — even encouraging — people
blood pressure and releases to be a bit silly during
adrenaline into the system. The brainstorming sessions isn't a
lungs expand, and torso muscles time -waster.
expand and contract. After the A good chuckle can boost the
chortle is over, blood pressure quality of work. It did for
and heart rates return to normal. Thomas Edison, who kept a
The experience is as effective as drawer full of clippings and
stationary jogging. scraps of paper covered with
Fry has also found that jokes. The fact that Albert
laughter triggers production of Einstein and Buckminster Fuller
endorphins, the brain's natural were known for their wit isn't
tranquilizers, so that pain levels sheer coincidence, either.
decrease. Tension headaches Executives who incorporate a
vanish, and flaring tempers are sense of humor into their
soothed along with frazzled management styles find that
nerves. laughter fosters good
- "The release of endorphins relationships with those they
can put you in a different, more direct. "The hierarchy of humor
cheerful mind -set," explains goes from the top down," says
Barbara Dahl, a Denver nurse Dahl, "Everybody knows
who teaches humor workshops. enough to laugh at the boss's '
"After a belly -laugh, you jokes. While they're laughing,
experience a natural high." they're being put at ease."
Calm and happy employees The manager who doesn't take
are more productive than their himself too seriously and can
uptight and harried counterparts. laugh about his foibles often
"People who work in an appears much more relaxed and
environment where fun is
allowed want to come to work,"
she adds. "They don't drag
through the door in the
morning." your employees are laughing
Laughter's impact on office with you than to worry that
stress is more than they're laughing at you behind
confident than his pompous
neighbor in the next office. It is
better to encourage some gentle
ribbing in the open and know
psychological. When
management and employees look
.for humor in the pressure -filled
situations they confront daily,
they often find they gain enough
perspective to solve problems
rather than being overcome by
them.
"You need to look on the
bright side," says Dr. Joel
Goodman, founder of the Humor
Prrject in Saratoga Springs,
N.Y. "Often, if you can't
your back.
All kidding aside, humor can.
be a great communication
technique. It provides people
with a socially acceptable way to
discharge hostility and
aggression and to convey
criticism.
According to Pat Wagner,
owner of Pattern Research, a
Denver information systems
design firm, "Humor allows me
to communicate information to
clients so they'll really listen.
When criticism is couched in
gentle teasing, they're more
prone to hear what I'm trying to
say. I also poke fun at my o'rn
flaws when I want to build
rapport. People close their ears
when they think they're being
talked down to."
Wagner stresses the
importance Of paying attention to
the humor of others. "I listen
for the truth in the jokes I
hear," says Wagner. 'There's
often a serious message beneath
the joking. People may be
saying they are frustrated
because they can't take part in
the decision-making process or
that they're upset about a
company dress code. If you can
attune yourself to both levels,
you get a sense of what's
bothering people and can start to
address those issues."
While laughter can serve
many purposes in business, it
must be used with a light touch,
say the experts. Before you buy
a propeller beanie and whoopie
cushions for the office, ask
yourself if you reall . want to
become known as apoardroom
buffoon.
"Appropriateness is critical,"
advises Goodman. "Humor is a
very powerful tool, and it can be
misused as well as underused.
"Joking can be constructive
or destructive," he adds.
"Sarcasm is used as a weapon.
Why use lip lash when you have
so many truly funny
alternatives?"
By the same token,
humiliating practical jokes that
hold the victim up to ridicule by
his or her peers are no laughing
matter. They can cause
permanent rifts in working
relationships. Scapegoating is
never appropriate or funny. The
best jests aren't at somebody
else's expense.
HOW TO HUMOR YOURSELF
We all have a sense of humor
although it may be buried deep
inside of us. All we need to do
is invite it to come out and play.
Even if you trip over the punch
line every time you tell a joke,
you can still develop your sense
of wit with the following
techniques:
• Try pretending you're
behind a "Candid Camera" for
five minutes a day, suggests Dr.
Goodman. "You develop comic
vision by looking for life's
absurdities. When you seek out
humor, you'll discover that•it
starts finding you."
• Spend some time with a
child to rediscover your original
playfulness and sense of delight
with the world and its foibles.
• The next time a cartoon,
saying or picture tickles your
funny bone, clip it out and take
it to work to share with your
co-workers.
• Feed your sense of humor
by treating yourself to a joke
book a funny movie, or an
evening listening to a stand-up
comic.
• Try starting a meeting with
a funny saying that applies to
' your topic.
• Encourage those around you
to exercise their sense of humor
by laughing and smiling.
1
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