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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 436 - May 9, 2012 |
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Is Your Workplace Anti-Hippo? |
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Pixar, the Hollywood studio that brought us such gems as Up,Toy Story and Monsters Inc., is renown for its innovative and inspiring workplace culture. They do a great job at celebrating success, going so far as to give a "Production Babies" credit at the end of their movies listing any babies that were born to employees during the making of a movie. And leaders at Pixar have purposefully created a lighthearted work atmosphere that encourages the use of humor to break down power structures, build trust, strengthen social bonds and spark creativity.
Pixar has even been commended for it's anti-Hippo culture: "HiPPO" being a Silicon Valley term referring to the phenomenon that happens in many uninspiring workplaces where the Highest Paid Person's Opinion dominates discussions and trumps the decision-making process.
To help maintain an anti-HiPPO environment, Pixar leaders use a playful tone and plenty of humor, especially during the fledgling stages of idea development, to ensure everybody's voice is heard and that everybody's ideas are given fair treatment.
So if you want your teams to feel more animated about their ideas and to create your own version of movie magic, then try using a little humor to level the playing field and remove any hippos that might be getting between you and the truly best idea in the room.
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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As a recovering federal government manager, I can relate to the headline I came across recently: "Who says federal employees don't have a sense of humor?". The headline refers to a fun charity event: the fourth annual Funniest Fed Competition, being held in Washington, D.C. this May. (Check out the details at Funny Feds)
Now even though I often stress that having a sense of humor isn't always about being funny, telling jokes or being the office clown, a stand up comedy contest in your workplace is obviously a fun way to help folks release their inner comedian and a great way to create a memorable event that could become an annual tradition. You can create some fun awards around the event (The Best Comeback Award, The Don't Quit Your Day Job Award, Biggest Guffaw Award, The Closest-to-Crossing-the-Line-Without-Stepping-Over-It Award...) and even tie it into a charity fundraiser event for your workplace.
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Quote of the Week |
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"He who laughs most, learns best." John Cleese |
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It's a Wacky World |
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This story last week made me smile: A lost parakeet was returned by police to its owner after the bird was able to tell the police its home address. The owner of the parakeet had taught the bird its address for just such an occasion.
And speaking of getting lost...
Today is official "Lost Sock Memorial Day," so we should all spend a moment of silence in our laundry rooms to honor our missing socks. And there's still plenty of May left, so check out the rest of the wacky theme days headed your way this month: Wacky May Theme Days | |
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Humor at Work TV
From the archives...
Reward yourself in the face of stress:
Inspiring Savings
Bring Mike in to speak and save! We have cost-saving opportunities between June 14 - June 28 in:
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Stockholm, Sweden
...and October 1st in
P.E.I. or New Brunswick
Inspiring Reading
Some great tips on how to build a truly inspiring, great workplace: Zapped By Zappos!
Funny Watching
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Copyright © 2012 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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