The Hump Day Humor at Work E-zine
Sunday Night Sleeplessness
Any guess as to what night of the week insomnia levels peak?
Yes, Sunday night sleeplessness is, according to surveys,
rampant. Which reminds me of the dread so many of us felt as
kids at the thought of returning to school. Today, some of
those same anxious kids are now anxious adults in bigger
clothing. But surely now we’re anxious over entirely different
issues? Such as the stress of dealing with the class bully
(oops, I meant office bully), the anxiety over delivering
your class paper (sorry, business presentation) or the worry
about trying to impress the cool kids (er, visiting senior
executives).
It’s sad to think about how some of the less enjoyable parts
of school haven’t necessarily left some people behind in the
workplace. Perhaps it’s a reminder that if you are going to
create truly inspiring workplaces, then it starts by treating
people as adults. The most successful, innovative and fun
workplace cultures all share a core principle: treat people
like adults and they’ll behave like adults. Value employees as
adults and they will feel like valued adults. Give people
permission to be themselves, trust them and support them, and
then maybe, just maybe, everyone will sleep a little more
restfully on those dreaded Sunday nights.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
A Montreal-based company, Flatter Me, outsources all your
flattering needs. Yes, for a small price, the company will
phone a friend or colleague and heap praise on them. They also
offer employee motivation calls, cheer you up calls and calls
of encouragement. So if you’re feeling a bit wacky, or perhaps
a tad lazy, this could be a fun option. Of course, you can also
try doing the same thing yourself! Or, if you want to surprise
people in your workplace, try leaving a funny or inspirational
voice mail message for everyone before they start their work
week or workday.
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Quote of the Week
“Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both
called users?” Clifford Stoll
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It’s a Wacky World
This Friday, December 16 is official “Chocolate Covered ANYTHING
Day!” So if you’re not hyper enough yet with the impending
Holiday season, go nuts! Or, you know, add nuts.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Can humor make you a better negotiator?
Whether it’s pitching an idea to your team, divvying up the
workload on a project or haggling over your teenager’s request
for an allowance raise, we all negotiate far more often than
we probably realize. So the question is, can a little humour
help our case?
A study described in the book, “Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven
Ways to Be Persuasive” by Steven J. Martin, showed how simply
sending a funny (but inoffensive) cartoon to the person you
are negotiating with generated higher levels of trust between
the two parties and led to 15% larger profits! The study also
showed that recipients of the cartoon were more than twice as
likely to put in opening offers that were deemed as acceptable
compared to those that didn’t receive the cartoon. The study
also found that the use of cartoons resulted in more efficient
negotiating by saving unnecessary time and suspicion.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Here’s a simple, fun meeting opener to try. Have everyone pull
out a penny (bring a small jar if it helps) and then have each
meeting participant share a quick first impression related to
whatever year the penny is dated. This can also work great
with virtual teams meeting over the phone as a simple
way to get people talking and laughing.
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Quote of the Week
“Chaos in the midst of chaos isn’t funny, but chaos in the
midst of order is.” comedian Steve Martin
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It’s a Wacky World
Okay folks, technology is definitely winning the battle in
dominating our lives. Sleep scientists believe that the younger
generation is now taking part in “sleep-texting”: sending text
messages to their pals while they sleep! Gee, what could go
wrong?
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Learning to be Creative
According to a study by Harvard Business professor Clayton
Christensen, 80% of a person’s creativity is a learned or
acquired skill. In other words, as I’ve been trying to tell
you oh-so-often, creativity is not something you are just
born with. It’s not magical. It’s not something either you
have or don’t have. So, what are you doing to remind yourself
and your team on a regular basis that you are creative? What
are you doing to coach, mentor, develop, train, teach, cajole
and boost the creative potential in yourself, your team and
your entire organization?
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Jet Star offered employees a chance to win, in a draw, 1 of
3 prizes of $500.00. To enter the draw, however, you have to
submit an idea about how to improve customer service in
25 words or less. So try something like this in your workplace.
The reward needn’t be $500, but doing something as a draw
encourages people to think of ideas and makes it fun for employees
to think of ideas, but takes away the tricky notion of trying
to incentivize creativity ? which studies tell us don’t
always work so well. People are motivated to be more creative
through intrinsic motivators, and can become more motivated
to get engaged with their ideas when we make it simple and
when we make it fun. And limiting the ideas to 25 words or less
is brilliant, because it focuses people on simple solutions and
ideas, which are, more often than not, the best ideas. You
can also expand this idea to include your customers, and use it
for any area of your business that needs improving.
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Quote of the Week
“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out my nose.”
Woody Allen
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It’s a Wacky World
It’s tough times for toothless kids these days. According to
a survey conducted by VISA, children in 2010 who left teeth
under their pillow received an average of $3.00 from the Tooth
Fairy, but this year the average earnings for the toothless tykes
has plummeted to a meager $2.60!
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Silliness at Work
In Praise of a Little Silliness
There’s an escalator at the Milwaukee convention center that
has a button next to it that reads: Push to Play Polka. You can
then enjoy listening to a nice polka as you ride the escalator.
Reminds me a bit of the Volkswagen Fun Theory campaign I wrote
about last year, where subway riders were enticed to opt for
the stairs over the escalator once piano steps were installed.
(http://thefuntheory.com/piano-staircase)
Both of these ideas are rather, well, silly. Yet, we often
dismiss the idea of being silly at work as something that
is inappropriate and unprofessional. But we need to remind
ourselves that a little silly is sometimes just what the
workplace doctor ordered. Being a bit silly, especially in an
overly-serious situation, can relieve stress, help a team bond
and keep everyone engaged during an especially crazy time. Not
to mention that virtually every brilliant idea ever conceived,
began its life as nothing more than a silly little thought.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
We’ve all heard about “random acts of kindness” as a simple
pay it forward gesture. Here’s a slight twist on that idea:
Hold a contest for the best anonymous random act of kindness
pulled on someone in your workplace. At the end of the month
(or week) people share what random, fun kindness was done
for or to them. The most creative, outlandish or fun act wins a
prize. Of course, at that point, the anonymous do-gooder will
have to step forward to reveal his or her identity!
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Quote of the Week
“I think your ability to be effective is proportional to your
ability to relax.” Premal Shah
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It’s a Wacky World
Next Wednesday, November 30, is official “Stay at Home Because
You’re Well Day.” I’m giving you plenty of notice so you
can plan accordingly.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Some Worrying Advice
We all deal with sea gull colleagues who focus on the negative,
but what about our own sea gull voices? Here’s a few random tips
on dealing with those pesky negative thoughts that pop up in
our own minds:
- Set aside a specific time to worry about something (we
did this in meetings, and called it the “whine and cheese”
portion of the meeting)
- Always ask this simple question: is this issue solvable?
If not, move on. If so, take one small step in the direction of
solving it.
- Be realistic. Look for solutions that are actually within
your control.
- Focus on the present. Worries tend to arise when we are idle
and start thinking too much about the future.
- Phone a friend. Create a relationship with someone who can
serve as an objective sounding board, someone who can offer
you a more realistic perspective, someone with a sense of humor!
- Practice debating yourself. Go into a closet if need be, or
just do this with your inside voice. Playing devil’s advocate
can help you see things in a more realistic, healthy light.
- Exaggerate the worst case scenario so you can’t help
but laugh and gain some much needed perspective.
- Reflect on the number of times the things you worried about in
the past never actually came to pass.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Here’s a fun way to surprise your employees or teammates with
a fun bonus. Kidnap your team, take them to a general type
store and offer each member a gift card to the store – but the
deal is they have to spend the gift card right then and there.
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Quote of the Week
“Worry is the interest we pay on a debt that we may never owe.”
Bill Wolff
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It’s a Wacky World
A study from Austria published in the Journal of Media Psychology
suggests that stupidity is contagious! The research found that
students performed less well on tests after reading screenplays
about idiotic people. Perhaps the old saying, “You are what you
read” is true?!
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: Encouraging Conversations in the Workplace
Given that 50% of all e-mails supposedly have a tonal issue
(as in the recipient is unsure how to read your tone), coupled
with a study by the University of Western Ontario which found
that water cooler conversations at work improve productivity,
what are you doing to encourage more face-to-face time, less
face-to-computer time? How about a technology-free day or a
technology-free hour once a day? What about setting up a
“conversation café” or live chat room (featuring actual human
beings)? Creating spaces with couches and tables to encourage
more conversations? How about chocolate strategically located
in different areas of your workplace? How about buying an
actual water cooler?
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Create some fun rituals or traditions that involve and honor
your customers in a fun way. Here’s one wacky example: a bar in
Portland where everyone yells out “Yeah!!” whenever someone
comes in the door, and “Boo!” whenever anyone leaves the bar.
What a simple, silly way to up the energy and keep everyone
engaged and laughing! (Try this one in your next meeting!)
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Quote of the Week
“Earnestness is stupidity sent to college.” P.J. Rourke
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It’s a Wacky World
Proving you can celebrate and honor anything, the annual Ig
Nobel prizes were dished out earlier this fall. The Ig Nobels
are awarded by the Journal of Improbable Research to honor,
well, improbable research. This year’s winners included scientists
who invented a wasabi fire alarm, a researcher who looked into
why people sigh, a study on how the urge to urinate affects
the decision-making process, and a scientist who explained how
procrastinators can be motivated to do important things as long
as they are doing them to avoid even MORE important things!
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Boost Creativity, Destroy Silos with Job Swap Days
Southwest Airlines has a “Walk-a-Mile” program where employees
can sign up to work a day in a totally different department.
Many organizations have such programs, and find tremendous value
in them.
Not only do swap days help employees develop new skills and
clarify different career path options, they also help break
down barriers, build trust, foster new relationships, and
improve communication. What’s not to love about this simple
idea? The other reason I love them is they also provide great
opportunities for creative ideas to hatch. Many ideas are born
out of a change in perspective, random associations and
from the cross-fertilization of different ideas that happens
when people who don’t ordinarily work together spend some time
working side-by-side.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
The annual “Dance Your PhD Contest” recently took place, wherein
PhD candidates, you guessed it, dance their PhD. The goal
of this wacky event is to encourage people to communicate their
research in a fun way that is easy to understand. As well, an
event such as this takes “the stuffing” out of an otherwise very
heady, sometimes overly-serious endeavor. So if those brainy,
sometimes earnest PhD candidates can take themselves lightly,
how about trying this idea in your workplace as a dance contest
at your next meeting or conference event? The dance doesn’t have
to be the entire presentation, simply offer up a prize for the
one minute dance that best matches their presentation content.
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Quote of the Week
“So long as there’s a bit of a laugh going, things are all right.
As soon as this infernal seriousness, like a grassy sea,
heaves up, everything is lost.” D.H. Lawrence
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It’s a Wacky World
An employee has filed a harassment complaint in a U.S. company
over his boss’s refusal to laugh at any of his jokes! Presumably
a panel of comedians will be convened to assess the quality of
said employee’s jokes and determine whether or not the boss
owes their employee a retroactive laugh or two.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: Fun Promotional Events Generate FREE Publicity!
Here’s another example of a business capitalizing on a little
creativity and fun to get some free publicity. The Lower
Mainland Eccotique Spa is offering a “confess and de-stress”
spa package for Vancouver Stanley Cup riot suspects. Any
suspected hooligans can turn themselves in, get their
fingerprints taken, and receive a relaxing spa treatment.
Are any of the rioters going to take them up on the offer?
Likely not. Does it matter? Of course not. The spa has
received free publicity coast to coast, by doing something
very different to stand out from the herd to be heard.
Speaking of a little different, Movember is right around the
corner. Yes, November is when men start growing mustaches to
raise money and awareness for men’s health issues, particularly
prostate cancer. One of the core values of the Movember
campaign is FUN! Movember is a classic example of using humor
to generate loads of publicity and to help communicate a
serious message.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Sure, random acts of kindness are great, except for one big
drawback. They’re too random. Having fun at work and creating
a humor-filled, creative workplace is too important to be
left to chance, so how about creating some Planned Acts of
Fun? Here’s something to aim for: each day, plan a small fun
ritual to jump start your day and one to end your day on a
high note. Plan something a tad bigger once a week, maybe
a Friday end-of-week ritual that celebrates your team’s
highlights of the week, or hold a Friday afternoon best joke
of the week contest, or a fun dance off. Then look at your
entire calendar for the year and plan one somewhat substantial
fun event per quarter. Something that everyone can look
forward to, but reasonably simple so it doesn’t become a chore
for the folks putting it together.
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Quote of the Week
“A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours are
wasted.” Captain James T. Kirk
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It’s a Wacky World
Tomorrow is “Cranky Co-workers” Day. You know who they are. So
be sure to inject a little extra fun into the workplace, if not
for them, then for your own sake.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Can Sarcasm Boost Creative Thinking? Seriously?
Since the root meaning of the term sarcasm is to “tear at the
flesh like a dog,” and because there are a few studies
that suggest that a high use of sarcastic humor correlates to
higher levels of stress and possibly even heart disease, then
I usually suggest that people try to minimize their use of
sarcasm at work. Sarcasm can also create misunderstanding and
conflict, especially when a “sarchasm” (the gap between the
author of a sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it) is
involved. Having said that, a study reported in the Journal of
Applied Psychology suggests that overhearing sarcastic comments
might make us more creative! The researchers explain, “Sarcastic
expressions of anger, in contrast to direct expressions, can
have a positive effect on complex thinking and on solving of
creative problems. The incongruity inherent in
sarcasm stimulates complex thinking and attenuates the
otherwise negative effects of anger.” Wow. That’s the most
interesting academic research I’ve ever read. They should
win the Nobel Prize. Like seriously.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Here’s an exercise you could turn into a bit of a creative
team building event while uncovering some truths about how
people perceive your organization. Create a time capsule for
your company, wherein everyone (or every team or department)
has to submit an object that they think best captures the
essence of your organization. Could you create a time capsule
that would clearly show future beings what it is your
organizations did? (Helpful hint: if people submit spools of
red tape or Dilbert cartoon books, your workplace may have
some work to do.)
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Quote of the Week
“The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.” Francis
Bacon
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It’s a Wacky World
I LOVE this story: an out-of-work New York man boosted his income
by telling jokes for $1.00 a laugh in Central Park. “Jason the Joke
Guy” offered a money-back laughter guarantee and managed to reel
in $140.00 in the first six hours.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com
Humor at Work: What if It’s You Who’s Driving People Crazy at Work?
Are you inadvertently driving your co-workers nuts? Chances are,
most people don’t realize when their behavior is annoying the
heck out of everyone. A LinkedIn survey of 17,000 professionals
found that the top U.S. annoyance is having your food taken
from the office fridge;83% of Brazilians ranked office gossip
as the top pet peeve; 74% of workers from India cited annoying
cell phone ringtones; 40% of Japanese workers mentioned office
pranks as a big downer; 56% of female Canadian employees rated
revealing clothing by fellow colleagues as big annoyance.
If you are going to build a great workplace, then it would help
to know what behaviors drive people batty, and to never assume
that it’s always the other guy/gal who’s driving the batty bus.
A simple way to at least start this conversation going is to
create an anonymous poll in your workplace that lets people
bring up annoying workplace behaviors without fear of having to
confront an individual one on one.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Next Monday is “Boss Day.” So do something fun for your boss or
thank your boss in a fun way. Bosses are often the least likely
people to get thanked in a workplace, and if you’re thinking,
“there’s a reason for that,” then consider this: occasionally
thanking your boss in a fun but sincere way might encourage her
to do the same. Making work a bit more fun for your boss, might
help him relax and encourage him to foster a lighter workplace
atmosphere. To paraphrase Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see
in your boss.” (Sure, you might get fired, but then really,
do you want to work for a boss like that?)
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Quote of the Week
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The
troublemakers. The round pegs in square holes. The ones who
see things differently.” Steve Jobs, RIP
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It’s a Wacky World
Today is “Take Your Teddy bear to Work Day!” If you’ve left your
bear at home, it’s still not too late to celebrate another theme
day: “International Moment of Frustration Scream Day!” And this
Friday, October 14th is “Be Bald and Free Day,” so for all you
bald-acious folks out there, it’s your day to shine. Literally.
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2011 www.humoratwork.com