The Hump Day Humor-Gram,  November 28, 2007    Issue Number 240
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1. Want More Ideas? Slow Down and Speed Up!  

Our latest Humor at Work poll asked folks where they come up with
great ideas. Here are the results:
       -	31% sleeping/in bed
       -	20% driving
       -	19% in the shower/bathroom
       -	17% exercising 
       -	5%  at work! 
       
My wee little poll mirrors every survey I’ve seen on the topic, 
suggesting a rather scary thought: that people’s brains aren’t 
exactly in high gear when they’re at work. So short of installing 
cots and showers at the old office, what can we do to get more 
ideas where we need them the most? The poll results suggests that 
to get more ideas at work we need to actively lower stress levels
and we need to (be forewarned, this is a rather revolutionary idea) 
give people time to think! Time to let the subconscious mingle 
with the conscious and for ideas to ferment. Some of the greatest 
innovators and entrepreneurs I know actually schedule time to think. 
(Some even have “thinking chairs!”) Yes, playing, socializing, and 
frenetic brainstorming sessions can spark powerful new ideas 
by putting your brain in fast forward mode to make random 
connections, but we also need to allow our brains to slow down
so that ideas have time to grow and for new connections to 
emerge from our subconscious. So use your brainstorming sessions 
to jumpstart the creative process and hatch those great eggs;
just give the eggs time to incubate and hatch properly, so you 
don’t end up with half baked ideas! 
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2. Mike's Fun at Work Tip  

Having trouble motivating yourself to clean up your office,
or finish that year-end report? Then try this: make fun,
goofy or silly side bets with a colleague (or include all your
teammates) to help overcome your procrastination and get the
job done. For example, if you don’t finish cleaning your office 
by the end of Friday, you have to teach your entire department 
a new dance step, or sing a love song over the P.A. system. 
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3. Quote of the Week

“The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment 
you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get to the 
office.” Robert Frost 
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4. It's a Wacky, Wacky, World: Any Last Requests?

A British poll of 100,000 people found some strange last requests 
from people planning their funerals, including: bury me naked, 
put a mobile phone in the coffin, bury me with my pet, and lastly, 
make sure I’m, you know, really dead (which probably explains the 
mobile phone request).   
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Copyright Michael Kerr, 2007. mike@mikekerr.com  www.mikekerr.com