Manage Stress at Work with a Humor Flip Flop
Practice the Art of the Humor Flip Flop
A simple way to avoid feeling embarrassed and getting
stressed out during an awkward moment is to practice
pulling what I call a “humor flip-flop” – a quick mental
back flip if you will, that helps you reframe a stressful
event in a silly way. So, for example, if you trip in the
hallway, you can leap to your feet and confidently yell
out: “Wow! A 9.2 from the Hungarian judge. I’m off to the
Olympics everyone!” You can develop a repertoire of all
purpose flip flops as well, standard recovery lines much
in the same vein as comedians have ready when a joke bombs
or a heckler attacks. Lines such as, “Where’s my stunt
double when I really need them?”, “Is it tomorrow yet?”,
“I really didn’t order this”, or “It takes a very special
human being to do what I just did”, can all be used in any
number of situations. (and if you have any suggestions for
recovery lines, please pass them along and I’ll share
them with the gang.
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Mike’s Fun at Work Tip
Collect company legends, amazing success stories and funny
tales on video tape for posterity. The videos can be used
in your training, in employee orientation, to kick off a
meeting, or played as part of a team celebration. It can
be a fun way to capture your organization’s spirit, keep
your history alive, and instill a sense of pride in your
people.
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Quote of the Week
“You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old
because you stop laughing.”
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It’s a Wacky, Wacky World
This one just kills me: A British recruitment firm had an
ad rejected by a government job center because the ad
discriminated against people who “AREN’T reliable.” Yes,
their ad went too far by saying they were looking for
reliable people, because those poor unreliable people
would feel discriminated against! (Of course, if they
truly are unreliable, then you probably couldn’t even
count on them to mount an effective lawsuit anyways.)
Wow.
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