Isn’t it crazy? As human beings, we love to laugh. We even pay money to watch somebody doing funny things in a comedy show or a film. In private, we all seem to enjoy a good laugh.
As soon as we walk into an office building, however, we seem to lose our sense of humour and our longing for a fun time with the people around us. If you’re somebody who enjoys a good laugh from time to time in the office, people will start to talk about you: they’ll wonder what your problem is and whether you have enough to do. Humour and laughter have something of a bad reputation in the corporate world — too much is considered unprofessional or inappropriate.
Laugh and learn
This has some implications for me as a team coach. In my seminars and workshops, laughter is more the rule than the exception — for two simple reasons. Studies show that we learn more effectively and sustainably if positive emotions and enthusiasm are involved. And the second reason is that I enjoy my time with participants more if we have fun together. I feel it makes me a better coach, and that, in turn, makes the experience more effective for all.
When potential clients hear that I use humour and encourage laughter in my workshops, they often ask how I make sure that people really learn. Even the participants themselves are sometimes worried that they won’t learn anything if they laugh — or that their boss won’t be happy to hear they had a good time.
Let me give you an example of how humour works its magic. The following exercise is effective in various contexts. It’s a good starting point for a conversation about communication within a team. And it’s an eye-and-heart-opening experience for everybody to learn how they respond to unexpected change.
Let me present: “My trip to Jupiter”
Depending on the size of the group, you’ll need four to eight volunteers. They have a simple task: tell a story as though they were only one person. I point to one of them (let’s call her Heather) and have her begin the story. As soon as I point to the next person (we’ll call him Pete), Heather has to stop talking immediately and Pete continues the story where Heather stopped, and so on.
Usually, I provide the title of the story. It needs to be about something they haven’t done before or a place they’ve never been. “My trip to Jupiter” has always been a good choice.
Quite quickly, some strategies can be observed. For example, some people try to push their own ideas — with each turn, they come back to their original thoughts even if the story has already taken a different route. Perhaps they think it’s about winning. Clearly, these participants would rather talk than listen and don’t pay a lot of attention to other people’s ideas. Then there are others who seem hesitant and prefer to rely on their colleagues to continue the story. Maybe they fear making a mistake.
In just a few minutes, different roles — as well as conflicting or complementary patterns of communication — have been brought to light. What’s more, most of the groups who do this exercise never actually get to Jupiter in their stories. Why? Obviously, no one has ever been to Jupiter, so it’s unfamiliar territory for everyone. They have to make something up and can’t be sure if it’s good or even plausible. This is a great starting point to talk about change and innovation.
Adapting to change
Minute by minute, the group is learning. Participants learn how to respond better to input from their co-workers. They see that it’s often good to have a plan, but it’s sometimes even better to throw out the plan and adapt to the current situation. Then they become more courageous and dare to break new ground. Unusual ideas and unexpected turns make listening and being involved onstage fun. Every time I do the exercise with a team, everyone has a lot to laugh about, and a lot to think about.
Heather, Pete and their colleagues onstage experience first-hand how it feels to be exposed to continuous change from the outside and how to respond to such changes. They go through various emotions — from being frustrated about having made mistakes to laughing about themselves.
Most of all, they realize that cooperation works much better if people not only share a goal, but also build on the ideas of others. From a communication perspective, they learn how important it is to listen rather than think about what they want to say next. Overall, this exercise shows communication habits that the participants aren’t aware of in their daily interactions.
“My trip to Jupiter” can be used in a number of different situations:
- as a starter in a kick-off meeting for a transformation project
- in a team workshop to start a conversation about communication within the team
- to inspire your team to take more risks and establish a culture of learning
However you use it, you’ll recognize one important thing: people will laugh, and they’ll connect and have a good time. After the exercise, it will be much easier to have conversations about current issues around communication or cooperation in the team.
And that perfectly describes my understanding of humour. It’s not about telling jokes and making fun of others. More than anything else, humour is an attitude, a mindset. It’s about how you respond to your own mistakes and to those of others. Humour is about taking a new perspective. Quite often, it’s an unknown or unexpected perspective that creates laughter. Even more, it creates a connection between people. So, why don’t you take the humour perspective next time you are dealing with a problem or with a mistake?