| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 770 - Apr. 17, 2019 |
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Energizing a Conservative Culture Through Humor |
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People always ask me, "Can really conservative companies ever change? Can traditional companies still embrace fun at work?" My answer is always, "Absolutely!" Here's just one of many examples, and although it's a bit of an older story, the lessons ring
true for anyone trying to bring more fun into their workplace.
The Milwaukee-based Brady Corporation was, at one time, a very traditional Brady bunch. But with the help of a little humor in their workplace they transformed their culture one laugh at a time. They discovered that humor was not only a valued end in itself, but also a key way to achieve their business goals. Humor helped them break down boundaries between teams, improved their internal communication, boosted morale, and sparked more innovation. The rallying cry "From no to
yo!" helped move their culture from one where too many people said "no" to change, to one where people enthusiastically embraced new ideas. Their transformation revolved around six principles of "serious fun":
1. People aren't always as stiff as they seem. Give people permission to embrace fun without making it mandatory, and many people will surprise you.
2. Laughter is an international language - the spirit of fun can be passed across not only teams, but international boundaries.
3. You can have fun during tough times, in fact having fun during challenging times can work wonders when done right.
4. Fun can be institutionalized through rituals, traditions, fun awards, and regular events.
5. Fun can be ad hoc. It's also important to not get in the way of the impromptu fun that can arise at any time.
6. The leaders set the tone, especially by showing they can laugh at themselves.
This is just one example of many, but stories like this continually emerge of formerly "stuffy," overly-serious organizations being rejuvenated with the power of humor and laughter.
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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A fun, simple way to quickly resolve any non-critical meeting dilemmas (such as who has to take the meeting notes...or be the timekeeper...or bring treats to the next meeting) is to hold a reverse rock-paper-scissors contest - pairing everyone off and then gradually reducing the number down to one winner. The "winner" (the last person standing) gets assigned the task! In other words, if you don't want the job, you have to try and
lose each successive round.
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Quote of the Week |
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“Any time you learn from a failure, it’s a success.” Michael Caine
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It's a Wacky World |
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Another in our "weird job" series that might just take the snake: snake milker. Yes, someone has to do it. The job of a professional snake milker (are there amateur snake-milkers?) is to collect the venom of poisonous snakes for use in anti-venom medications. Now that's a job you can sink your teeth into.
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Copyright © 2019 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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