A Little Song, A Little Dance. . .

One of the best sit-coms of all time, the Mary Tyler Moore show, had one of the best episodes of all time "Chuckles Bites the Dust."  The set-up was that a TV children's' program host, Chuckles the Clown, met his untimely demise while dressed as a peanut in a circus parade;  unfortunately, he was "shelled"  by a rogue elephant.

The point of the episode is that we face dimensions in life and the workplace.  Certainly in the face of tragedy involving a co-worker, Chuckles' friends try their best to maintain the decorum that is expected of them.  But as they recount the life of a clown, they can't help but see the humor.  Routinely gales of laughter interrupt eulogies to Chuckles, culminating in Chuckles' favorite phrase, "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer in your pants."

Laughter in the workplace is all too rare.  It is also incredibly valuable.      Not the fake "I'm-trying-to-put-on-a-happy-face-to-cover-how-insecure/intimidated/uncomfortable I am."  But instead, genuine, honest laughter that proves that team members enjoy not only each other's company, but are also inspired by the multi-dimensionality of life.

Yes, we should take work seriously, but we should also bring it forward with a sense of humor.  Believing in diversity in the workplace means the belief that we should look at challenges and opportunities from different angles.   One of those angles should be to find the humor in what we do.

Humor adds dimensionality to a decision.   Humor often informs us.   Humor gives us perspective.

Humor is fun;  it enables us to enjoy our professional lives.

There are probably those who say that political correctness has taken humor out of the workplace;  this is a poor excuse.    We can easily maintain the boundaries of being appropriate while riding within the wide highway of having fun at work.

Observe.   The teams that function well together have fun together.   They enjoy each other's company.  They are willing to see the humor, the folly, the sometimes ridiculousness of what we do - while still honoring their team and their mission.    You can mark teams that work well together because you can hear genuine laughter coming from their meetings.

Let's be better at work by honoring the humor and laughter in life!

Like it?  Share it!

 

My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.