Humor and Creative Thinking:
How to lighten up for enlightenment.
By Bob Eckert
“Creativity is inventing,
experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and
having fun.” — Mary
Lou Cook
 We’re not kidding: this article is focused on the impact
of playfulness and humor on a culture of creative thinking and
innovation. Seriously.
First: Over 50 years of research on creativity has
shown that playfulness and humor have a positive impact on the quantity
of ideas and the quality of creative thinking in groups, which can lead
to an increase in the organization’s innovative output. Our
direct experience working across industries (yes, even banking) at all
levels of the organizations (yes, even the C-suite) validates this
research every day.
Take your work seriously but don’t take yourself seriously.
But: Many organizational cultures send the message
that “our work is too serious,” or “we take ourselves very
seriously because we’re very important” and so the humor is chilled
out of the organization. Also, because playfulness and humor can sometimes
cross the line and be inappropriate in the work environment, the
reaction is to clamp down on ALL humor, not just the inappropriate kind.
"One of the best parts about being with the
[Chicago] White Sox [baseball team] is just having fun, more so than
with the [Chicago] Bulls [basketball team] or any other business I’ve
been associated with. We just kid around a lot, yet the work gets done.
We all feel that we work together, not that anybody works for anybody.’
— Jerry Reinstorf, Owner of the American League Pennant-Winning Chicago
White Sox and the six-time champion Chicago Bulls, quoted in the
Chicago Tribune, 10/18/05.
So, there is an interesting dynamic to balance: taking our work
seriously, but not ourselves seriously. The primitive (gator) brain
survives by seeing potential danger and avoiding it, whether in the
swamp or in the boardroom. So the oldest part of our brain tells us to
stay away from humor because it’s risky and you might offend someone.
In
many workplaces, this fear has pushed laughter into the sub-basement.
In the long run this is unproductive for organizations that need
innovation to succeed (read: all organizations). The companies that
figure out how to safely integrate humor into their climate will
differentiate themselves in terms of 1) overall work satisfaction, as
well as 2) ideational output from their people which is essential for
innovation. Accordingly, it’s important to make sure that we’re
not over-compensating based on a fear of inappropriate humor. In
other words, “lighten up… but keep it clean.”
Why Humor Is Important for Innovation
Synaptic Connections
Quick
biology lesson: Every time we make a novel neurological connection
(between, say, an automobile and a can of SPAM® canned meat), we are
maintaining our ability to continue to make other
connections. Creative thinking exists at the realm of previously
unconnected thoughts. Similarly, making connections between
unconnected items is a big part of what makes humor work.
Here’s good news about your health that you just have to have: as we
look for and find humorous connections, we are maintaining good neural
health. Yes, you can keep your brain healthy merely by having
fun! Healthy humor falls in the realm of word games, puns, word play,
and seeing the humor in a moment. It’s about BEING humorous, not
“telling jokes” that have been learned and are merely recited. An
example of how having fun with language yields innovation can be found
at Gnu & Improv
ED.
One of New & Improved’s notable marketing innovations, the cartoon
“Gnu & Improv Ed” came from a humorous, irreverent connection
between the homonyms “new” and “gnu.”
Irreverence
Psychologically, as you joke or “kid” around, you’re embracing the
playful nature of the child in you. It’s the part of your psyche that
has little tolerance for hearing, “No, it can’t be done” and so
responds to such adult drivel with “Why not?”
New & Improved Partner Russ Schoen,
spent time with the famous MD, Patch Adams while working on his
Master’s Thesis for his degree in Creativity and Change Management. Dr.
Adams was depicted by Robin Williams in a wonderful, eponymous* movie.
While discussing devastating diseases like Alzheimer’s, Multiple
Sclerosis and cancer, all of which Patch had seen and treated, Patch
noted that a far more devastating disease was the disease of
loneliness. His prescription for overcoming it is his magic elixirs for
life - humor, community, and fun. While we don’t yet know how to
prevent Alzheimer’s, MS, or cancer, you can prevent the loss of your
sense of humor. Your friends and family will love you for it… and
probably laugh with you."
As our friend Andrei Aleinikov, Director
of the School of Geniuses, likes to say as he’s training children to
retain their genius skills “’Why not’ every ‘not.’ In
other words, every time you hear the word, “not,” ask “why
not?” In order to
reap emotional and financial rewards, “embrace your inner child.”
Light-Heartedness
Socially, an atmosphere that is playful and humorous is just plain more fun to be in.
It’s less stressful so people enjoy work. Innovation incubates,
marinates, and percolates well in these kinds of environments. It shows
up when people feel socially safe. Creating an environment where people
can joke around will lead to a culture where they know that playing out
loud with half-baked, poorly formed ideas will lead to a fun, perhaps
valuable connection, rather than to censure, punishment or nasty
ridicule.
Oh, and a word about “mean humor” (which seems like an oxymoron):
“jokes” where people make themselves feel superior by laughing at
another, or where people put others down, is not humor. It’s an attack
wearing a clown’s mask, and it’s a destructive, unproductive, primitive
pattern. It also leads to retaliation, anger and hurt. No thank
you.
So, find a way to play. It’s important for your bottom line that you do so.
How to Find Humor
“You grow up the day you have your first
real laugh — at yourself.” — Ethel
Barrymore
The
best place to start is where most comedians start… with yourself! No,
the comedians aren’t making fun of you, they’re making fun of
themselves… you know what we mean. Imperfect human being that you
are, there is something to laugh at in your life every day. A dose of
humility, and a smile on your face is all it takes to turn a mistake or
imperfection from embarrassment into fun and relief. As you lead in
this way, you make it safe for others to do the same. When a critical
mass of an organization stops taking themselves so seriously and can
see the humor in their day-to-day lives, then the entire atmosphere
shifts to the positive. In these settings, spontaneous laughter,
lighthearted play and playful productive thinking is enhanced. And from
that profit flows. To thank us, just send us 2%.
But not milk. That would not be funny (Okay, maybe a little bit funny). •
* Only one of the crew contributing to this newsletter knew what the word
eponymous means. Possible definitions:
- E-ponymous: Traveling the internet with the speed of the pony express.
- Eponymous: a very small virtual mouse
- Eponymous: a cream for removing hair from your knees
- A musical compilation by R.E.M.
- one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named
© 2005 Bob Eckert
 About the Author | More by Bob Eckert
Bob Eckert can be reached at the mountain retreat offices of New & Improved, LLC in the Adirondacks (where the word “brainstorm” first originated in the English language.) Phone: 518-327-3554.
07/26/06
|
