A subscriber asked me if I knew of any business cartoons that I could absolutely, beyond any doubt, guarantee would not offend anyone at work. I finally found one ... enjoy!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hilarious, right? And no, you're not missing anything on your screen. My very simple point is this: Yes, we need to be respectful and practice safe humor at work, which means giving a wide berth around anything remotely racist, sexist, religious, or obscene. But in a recent Humor at Work poll, 35% of respondents said they avoided using any humor for fear of offending someone. A fabulous sentiment, but unfortunately humor doesn't come with a 100% money-back guarantee. I upset someone in an audience years ago because I joked about how sexy moose's legs are...to other moose. Another time, someone was upset at me because I made a dead parrot joke and their parrot had just died a week earlier. You can't win 'em all!  But the benefits of using more humor in your workplace far outweigh the risks as long as you practice a bit of common sense and the humor comes from a well-intentioned place. As conveyed in one of my favorite Dilbert cartoons: Don't let the humorless 1% triumph over the 99% who want to enjoy a good laugh and work in a more humor-filled work environment!