Recommended Reading

"Office congregating and merriment will not be tolerated....Loud talking, laugher, loitering and excessive walking are not mannerisms of true professionals"

Memo from a Department Manager of a large company

Consider the paradox Most of us were trained to put a lid on our humor but we tend to respect people who use it. We enjoy seeing charismatic people with a good sense of humor - they are people we want to work with, listen to and whose product we want to buy.  CEO's want to hire staff with a sense of humor . In our changing times, humor helps put the joy back to work.  Yet our organizations continue to provide "seriousness" training squelching our child- like playfulness.

Taking your job seriously and yourself lightly leads to improved morale and increased productivity. Positive humor correlates with enhanced creativity, productive team work, strengthened relationships, increased morale, help in managing conflicts, better decision making, increased self-esteem and wellness.  It is a very useful tool for managing our doldrums and stress. Yet although we are better trained than ever before, we don't seem to have as much fun. US workers consume over 15 tons of aspirin a day.  But there has been a decided paradigm shift over the last fifteen years to bring humor and laughter into our lives and workplaces.  It stems from the work/life balance movement. If this wasn't needed, then why would Dilbert be so popular?

If you had to name one company that represents fun to you, who would that be? I recently had the pleasure of listening to a webinar from the former President of Southwest Airlines. Southwest realized that if work was more fun, it would feel like less work. Their vision was to create a fun environment and remain profitable. Humor has a positive impact on the workplace. Their hiring philosophy is to hire for attitude, then teach the skills. Humor sells, humor heals, humor breaks the ice, humor diffuses tension, humor gets results, and humor succeeds.

To learn more about the benefits of humor in the workplace - read more...

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"Positive Thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will."  ~ Zig Ziglar

Positive thinking means focusing upon thoughts, words, and images that are conducive to personal growth, adaptation, and success.  If we think positively, we're likely to enjoy positive results. Negative thinking, on the other hand, can lead to outcomes we don't want.  Both types of thinking can become self-fulfilling prophecies: What we expect can often come true. If you start thinking you will mess up a task, the chances are that you will. You may not try hard enough to succeed, you won't attract support from other people, and you may not perceive any result is good enough.  Positive optimistic people are happier and healthier, and enjoy more success than those who think negatively.

So how do you think about your successes and failures? Do you have a predictable thinking pattern? When you're more aware of the way you think, you can take action to use positive situations to your advantage and re-shape the negative ones. So let's see which thought pattern you have. These examples come from Dr. Martin Seligman who has done extensive research on positive thinking.

Pessimist: I lost my job and I'll never find one as good again. No point even looking!

Optimist: I lost my job.  Thank goodness there are other opportunities I can explore!

Pessimist: I lost my job.  Companies are all the same; all they care about is money. I don't know why I should put any effort in to finding another.

Optimist: I lost my job. It's too bad our company has to reinvent itself to stay competitive. Thankfully I learned some great transferable skills.

Pessimist: I lost my job.  If I had been a decent employee they would have found a new job for me.

Optimist: I lost my job. I gave it my all, however they just can't use my skill set right now.

To learn suggestions for building optimism, read more...