How Many Managers Does It Take to Change a Lightbulb?

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Business, Marketing, Teams, Business/entrepreneurship, Harvard, Management, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Hbr, Business/management, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Business/marketing, Innovation, Communication

4.3 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jennifer Aaker, a Stanford professor, and Naomi Bagdonas, an executive coach, say that, even in times of stress and crisis, leaders should use and encourage good humor and levity at work as a way of building employee morale and engagement. That doesn't mean you have to tell jokes all the time. Instead, figure out what kind of humor works best for you and learn to pinpoint the opportunities for using it to best effect. They explain what makes things funny (hint: surprise) and the pitfalls managers should avoid. Aaker and Bagdonas are the authors of the book “Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life.”

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	How do you navigate gender in your workplace?
0:04.0	HBR's fan favorite podcast Women at Work is back with personal stories, the newest research,
0:09.6	and practical advice on navigating divorce, disability, and career failures.
0:14.0	Listen for free to H.B.
0:16.0	Women at Work wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the HBRIDIEDICAST from Harvard communal laughter. I hope this clip from one of
0:49.0	Hannibal Burris' stand-up shows does the trick.
0:51.8	It's weird working in the office,
0:54.0	because I don't know how many times we're supposed to say hello to people throughout the day.
0:58.0	Because I keep seeing the same people, I'm like, I saw you 45 minutes ago.
1:05.0	Should I say hello or should I just grumble under my breath? I don't know what to do.
1:12.0	I just made my rule. If I say hello to you three times on Monday I say nothing to you on
1:16.0	Tuesday you're helloed out for the week.
1:19.8	Okay so yes we're in the middle of a pandemic, economic stagnation, and in the US and some
1:26.1	other places social unrest. It does not feel like a moment for comedy, but sometimes
1:31.7	humor is just what you need to get through the day, especially
1:34.8	the work day.
1:36.5	Our guests argue that teams and organizations would be much better off if they made more
1:40.9	room for levity and laughter.
1:43.0	They want people to get more comfortable sharing funny stories and even telling jokes.
1:47.0	They say good humor can be learned and spread through the workplace,
1:51.0	generating lots of positive effects.
1:54.0	Jennifer Acker is a behavioral scientist and professor at Stanford University, and
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Harvard Business Review, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Harvard Business Review and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.