Are You Funny?

This week’s been a bit more tilted than many others but it’s growing to be the norm.  I woke up this morning early and for the first time in my professional career I reported to work in sweats.  Now granted it was 5:30 am and I was privileged to assist our employees as they received COVID vaccines, but the moment wasn’t lost on my coworkers.  I sported a swim and dive hoodie, sweat pants, and athletic shoes no less.  Didn’t even fix my hair 🙂 but did brush my teeth before heading out.  I’m writing this entry 600 miles away now from where I started my day and huddled up with my oldest.  We start his training early tomorrow in the cold and wet.

One of my buddies is the director of research for Gallup’s Education Practice and school folks will identify with his deep contributions on Clifton StrengthFinder.  He’s a farm boy for sure growing up in Nebraska and receiving all of his degrees from Nebraska U – Gallup is headquartered in Omaha.  He’s also a really funny guy and our exchanges have always been tinged with razor tongues.  He has always dished back to me as good as anyone.

The Harvard Business Review posted today an article entitled ‘How to Be Funny at Work’ which made for a great short read.  Here is the link to the article.  The co-authors are Stanford Business wonks who have top tier credentials and should command your attention.  They cite one statistic early on that “leaders with any sense of humor are seen as 27% more motivating and admired than those who don’t joke around.”  My Gallup buddy whose company is referenced also chimes in with ‘one of the greatest drivers of employee performance is having a close friend — presumably one you laugh with — at work.’

The authors detail out four styles of humor that I will verbatim list below:

• Stand-Up: bold, irreverent, and unafraid to ruffle a few feathers for a laugh. (Example: Wanda Sykes)
• Sweetheart: earnest, understated, and use humor that lightens the mood (Example: James Corden)
• Sniper: edgy, sarcastic, nuanced — masters of the unexpected dig (Example: Michelle Wolf)
• Magnet: expressive, charismatic, and easy to make laugh (Example: (Jimmy Fallon)  

There’s even a test linked in the article where you can determine which style you most likely align with.

Also towards the end the authors bring it home for me and I suspect many of you.

Now let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: We’re writing this in February 2021, a year into a pandemic that has killed millions and put many out of work. Is this really a time for laughter? Yes. We believe that the leaders weaving humor into this weird new world are the ones truly helping their employees to get through it.

I spent this morning asking fellow employees, some I’ve known for over a decade, to tell me their date of birth, gender, race, and ethnicity.  Multiple times I said “are you sure?”  This is Pandemic 2021 but during this lifetime experience humor indeed brings levity to the situation.  And if you’re unsure about your ability to be funny, just get a dog!