Bringing Humor into the Workplace: The Key to a Happy, Productive Culture #PositiveCulture

Good morning, LinkedIn. Happy Thursday. Welcome to let's Build Superhumans with George B. Thomas. How you doing, George brother?

I'm doing good. It's Thursday, which means it's a day until Friday, which is Saturday eve, and we're off for Columbus Day on Monday, so there's that as well. So long weekend and happy to be here with you and hopefully help people build some superhumans.

Yeah, no, I think we've gotten so much good feedback already.

They like me. They really like me. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

7. Can I list off all seven? How have I not practiced this right before the show? Every time I run into this, like, I'm unprepared. So we've gotten done with holistic humility. Honesty was last week. Holiness, healthy, hungry, and there's one I'm missing.

Did you say honesty?

Yeah.

You said honesty.

I did.

So holistic happiness, helpfulness.

That's the one I missed. Yeah.

Happiness. Yeah.

And. And helpfulness, I think I most meant somehow.

So for those that are just tuning in, it is holistic happiness, helpful, humility, holiness, hunger, sl. Hustle. Go back to that and see why we don't use hustle synonymous with what we talk about. Honesty. And then today we've got Today humor

is on the docket for today. I shared with George earlier, had some insight in the shower. See that to this topic.

When I got that slack, I was like, ooh, the shower. Thanks.

Here's why. Because you shared a pretty sweet article about this last week, I think, and I was reading through it, and it just wasn't landing for me in a way that's like, of all the pillars that could feel forced, like, why is this one feeling forced? Do we really need to teach, you know, organizations about humor? And what I came to this morning is this could be the one thing that if you've grown up in business in, like, mom and pop shops and like, garage businesses where everybody's just getting after it, you may not have any of the other pillars, but you literally will not survive without humor at that point, which is in those are the cultures that I've experienced. So that means it's like, oh, curse of knowledge. Like, of course, yes. You know, businesses know how to do humor. Like, why are we even needing to talk about this? So that was the insight this morning that as soon as I realized that, I was like, oh, maybe I haven't experienced a lack of humor in culture, but I've definitely heard about some situations where it wasn't there. So that was my insight for today. So I'm excited to dig into this with you.

I love that. Because, Chris, it really does come down to like our experience versus others experience versus all the experiences. Right? And what we mean with a word and what people perceive with a word when we say humor. And so I want to kind of start there when we say humor for better individuals, for team dynamics, for company culture, like what the heck do we even mean so we can all be on the same level playing ground. And Krista, talk about what it is. I actually want to start with what it's not because I want to add a, a little word to the word humor for today's conversation around these superhumans and the superhuman framework. And positive humor. That's a key distinction here because positive humor is not sarcasm that belittles others. It's not the jokes that you may have heard that create an uncomfortable environment for some people in the room. And it's not humor that divides rather than connects. Right? It, it isn't about making fun of people or creating a culture where jokes are used as weapons. Trust me, I've been in organizations where that is what humor is in that organization. That's not what we're talking about. Also, you might kind of go light footed with this and say humor. Oh yeah, we crack jokes and share memes on zoom calls. Like, no, that's not what I'm talking about. With positive humor inside of an organization. Positive humor is constructive, it's inclusive, and it's supportive. The humor that I'm talking about lifts people up rather than tearing them down. And it's always used to bring people together, not push them apart. And as we talk about humor today, Chris, we're talking about one of the key pillars of the superhuman framework. And I want everybody, if this is their first episode they're watching to realize that this is a framework that was designed to unlock human potential, team dynamics and company cultures by integrating values like happiness, humanity, like we talked about at the beginning, beginning of this and of course today's topic, humor. Humor is about creating an environment where people feel at ease, where they can laugh at themselves, where we lighten up tense situations, where we find joy even in the everyday grind. And you're right, family businesses, like they need what I just said to survive. But more than just family, business need it all businesses need it to survive, Chris. It's about taking off the edge off and making kind of the space an authentic human connection, powered organization, authentic human organization, a authentic team's dynamics.

Right?

When we as humans, as Individuals feel comfortable enough to laugh, especially at work. We become more adaptable, we become more creative and. And we become more willing to take the kind of risks that we've kind of talked about in other episodes around the superhuman framework that end up leading to growth. Now, if you're keeping your word cloud, you know, this is a big deal for me when we do these adaptable, creative, and willing to take risks. If you're the individual human, you have to ask yourself, am I an adaptable, creative person that is willing to take risks as a leader? You have to ask yourself, do I have those types of humans in my organization? And how am I enabling the humans to be that in my organization? You see, it's about positive humor, about adding a touch of humanity to everything we do so that we show up not just as employees, not just as bosses, but as people, or as I like to say, as humans. And so when I think about this, human or humor ties directly into the happiness pillar of the superhuman framework. Because remember, one of the things that we kind of talk about is how this connects with this and how you can kind of pair things like a good steak and wine. And so again, humor and happiness are super tied together. By embracing humor, we create moments of joy. Who doesn't want joy? And these moments of joy reduce stress. Who doesn't want a more stress, feel free life? And the cool thing is when we get this joy and we get this less stressful life, then all of a sudden we're building emotional resilience, which is like a beautiful place to be. Humor also connects with the humanity pillar, right, by encouraging vulnerability and connection, which are essential ingredients for like, the thriving workplace. So now we've got humor, which is connected to humanity and it is connected to happiness. Now all of a sudden you see a trifecta of, hopefully you see a trifecta of like, oh, holy crap. Like, that's actually really important. When those three pieces are put together, I'll pause there and I'll just be like, Chris, with that, what it isn't and what it is, like, where does your brain go?

I mean, we come back to this concept of creating the space for this stuff to. To even be possible. Like, it comes with a safe environment. And I think when you're on those smaller teams, like all the things we're talking about just naturally occur. You have to be transparent because there's just four of you all working to get the job done every day. There is no time to create boundaries that create lack of transparency. Like, there's no time to be dishonest and just that creates this level of safety where you're cracking jokes and you can always bring levity when needed, you know, and you can always turn it off when the job needs to get done. When you, like, grow an organization and you start to, like, focus on risks instead of, you know, opportunities, it's very easy to just like, okay, this thing happened, so now we're just gonna. We're just gonna cut it off at the legs. And what's interesting is that I forgot the point that I was gonna. Gonna make, but this idea of safety, because just like you said that humor can be used as a weapon. It's often used as a shield as well, like, as a survival mechanism. I love modern technology. My whole, like, all my screens went off and somehow we're still connected on the podcast. So. So let's do it. So really keying in, like, if you're a leader and you're like, oh, we've got humor, key in on how people are using it. Like, that's going to be your first hint as to whether it's healthy or harmful.

And Chris, I love that you mentioned the word organization as you kind of got in there and got started, because what I want everybody to realize is this is a thing that scales up into larger organizations. Even though we kind of started with this, like, family, you know, curse of knowledge, of course it's in there in small teams. Like, this does go into company cultures. And so what I want to do is I kind of want to paint a picture of what is an organization without humor look like versus one that does, and maybe some helpful pieces along the way that. So as you're watching this or listening to this, I want you to kind of picture an organization without humor. If you do that, you're probably going to think about things like, it's stiff, it's rigid, and people are probably walking on eggshells. Now, I pray that you're not immediately thinking of your company right now. But. But I digress. Maybe some of you are. When you think of stiff, rigid, and that you're walking on eggshells, that might be your daily life. You see, in that scenario, there's no space for vulnerability. There's no space for being human. Mistakes are actually feared and not learned from, and everyone's just trying to survive the fricking workday. Like, let me clock in, let me hide, let me get what I can get done, and let me get the heck out of here. It's like a black and white movie at this point. It's functional, but man, it lacks any real color or depth. It's like, not a way that you would want to live life or even a work life. Now if we take that and we contrast that with an organization that embraces humor, one that fully embodies the superhuman framework, if you will, the atmosphere, it feels lighter. People aren't afraid to share ideas, even if they're not fully baked, by the way. They're more willing to speak up in meetings because they know that even if they slip up, there'll be a little bit of a safety net, a little bit of understanding, if you will, and maybe even a good laugh to be able to reset and just keep moving forward again, this. This place of, like, healthy expectation and lack of judgment based on this element of humor and humanity. And Chris, it's like moving from that black and white film to, like, full blown Technicolor. There's life in the organization and in the people. There's energy in the organization and the people, and there's a sense that everyone is in it together, not just as co workers, but as people who generally enjoy working alongside each other. I don't. I don't know about you guys, but that sounds nice. Like, that sounds nice to me. Chris, you were going to say something.

It does. And like, when you don't overthink it, like, how do we lose track of this? It's when you overthink it, it's when you try to, you know, approach it from just the wrong angles. I won't go into all those wrong angles. But, like, again, we're creating safety. We're creating the space to feel like themselves. You know, a lot of people naturally turn to self deprecation as a form of humor, which, which I think has its place. But when you said earlier, creating the space for you to be able to laugh at yourself. Right. Laugh about what mistake was just made.

Yeah.

Like is much different from someone making you feel like you need to laugh at yourself. Right. Completely different. Like, and that's where the self deprecation can be used as a shield. And, like, try to diffuse this really unhealthy situation which ends up making you feel worse. And like, then you get into this habit of always feeling self deprecation is the way forward. And that's clearly what happened. And that's where we. It's just a slippery slope, right?

Yeah, yeah, Without a doubt. You don't want to have a culture of a slippery slope. And I'm glad that we're kind of diving into this, like, cultural piece because this is where the love cornerstone and humanity pillar come into play. Like a culture that encourages humor, cultivates empathy and connection. It's valued. If you have helping in here with humor and humanity and love, all of a sudden, the culture that you're having is way different. Humor builds this kind of psychological safety where people feel comfortable enough to take the risks, knowing that mistakes will be met with understanding. And again, maybe it's a smile, Right? Because it's like, hey, where we live at, we understand that we're not taking ourselves so deeply, so tightly. Just this. I want to use the word freedom to just be who you are in the space that feels safe for you to be at. Because this culture has this humor element, this positive humor element. So with that, Chris, what's. What's happening in your cranium right now?

I'm here to. To learn about, like, how to effectively share this with leadership teams, with people, to make it feel like. Because it is like, I think, you know, even the culture of society that. That we're in right now, and, like, we're in the space where, you know, cancel. Cancel. Culture is a thing. Yeah. And there is a lot of risk to not being aware of the environment you're in and saying the wrong things. I mean, words. Words matter. They have arguably the biggest impact, like, for the smallest amount of effort. How do these three groups, like individuals, teams, orgs, like, how do you even approach this? I can understand why it's like, oh, man, this complex human being. We got human beings all over the place talking to each other, even want to address this. We're just going to remove this piece.

Yeah. So don't remove it. Because it's. It's a huge factor. And what's fun is I think the individuals can learn from what we talk about during the team dynamics and the company culture. So let's. Let's kind of dive into this. What does humor look like in team dynamics? Humor, in my opinion, is the glue that holds everything together within teams. When teams share a laugh, they start to build trust. Think about it. The best teams that you've ever participated in or been part of were probably where you could crack a joke, share a silly story, or even laugh through the mistakes. I mean, Chris, let's just call back to the other podcast that we were just doing. Wake up with AI. Like, all three of us are a team on that podcast, and we were cracking jokes. We shared the little silly stories. We laugh even as we're kind of making the mistakes. Mistakes through creating a piece of content like that's a, a micro version of what I'm saying can happen in organizations because humor helps teams navigate challenges without crumbling under the pressure of those challenges that they're facing. It creates an environment where people aren't afraid to admit that they need help, which we've talked about this during the helpful pillar. Your humans, your teams need to be able to have the freedom to be like, hey, I, I need some help over here. Because they, and, and get that help and know that they're not going to be judged, they're going to be supported. Now don't get me wrong, they might be teased a little bit, wink, wink, see what I did there? A little humor. But, but always they're going to be lifted back up, right? Because that's just kind of the culture that you'll have as that even small team inside the league. You see, humor tends to diffuse. Positive humor tends to diffuse. We're all the all on the same freaking side. So it's a reminder that we're not just tackling tasks, right? We're building something together and we can have fun doing it. And Chris, what's fun is I'm talking about this, I'm almost talking about how in larger organizations these teams can almost pull in this, as you mentioned earlier, this family mentality, this humor mentality, this humanity element to what they're doing. And this directly connects to the persistent cornerstone, by the way of the superhuman framework where humor makes perseverance freaking more manageable because it's adding in this lightness to the struggle that we're all facing as we're trying to get these goals achieved. And when teams persist together and laugh while doing it, they start to build unbreakable bonds that are long lasting. And again you feel like brothers and sisters in arms, in the trenches. But here's the big question. How do you know if you live in this world or not? So I actually want to throw out some reflective questions that people can ask themselves and maybe their organization to understand if humor is positively presented in their team's day to day work. Do your team interactions include light hearted moments that bring us closer or is humor missing altogether? Like I literally want you to pause and think about the teams that you're in and the day to day. Are these interactions included that are lighthearted or is humor just not there at all when mistakes happen? Do we use humor to learn and move forward or does it create tension

and to understanding, you know, the team dynamics? And the second thing you mentioned, like the task driven, like if it's Always about the task, it's always about productivity. What I've experienced, even in the light hearted environments is it creates this kind of like, like the higher that stress goes, the higher anxiety goes. You create this powder keg where nobody feels safe to do anything except work on the task. That's where just, it just sucks. Any ability to have humor. So like looking at your day to day and understanding, like, can I even make space for this? Like right on the last call, like what would have happened? Was there a joke I wanted to make and I didn't? Was there a joke I did made that, that landed flat and you know, be willing to talk to others on the team, you know, and reviews, bring it into reviews or you know, the one on ones from a place of understanding, like hey, I think this might be missing or it's just another avenue. And that's really the power of this framework in my opinion. You got 10 avenues here to get this right.

Yep.

It's, it's literally like you, you still have to make the choice to go down the avenue, but you've got 10 to choose from. You really can't go wrong to go down any of them.

Right, Right. And that's the thing, the, the level at which you're going to go at any of these 10. But also the thing that I want to say here is understanding, to not overthink it. Like the best parts of these pairing together is that some of them just naturally happen together. And especially with humor, like, sure. Should you refine, should you research, should you like iterate the things that you're saying you're doing on calls, should you pay attention? Absolutely. Because that's how you know if you've gone into a positive or a negative and if you want to rinse and repeat the positive ones that you find that are in your daily actions with these humans that you're helping or the humans that you're working with. And all of this, Chris, leads into the kind of, the next thing of what does this look like with company culture? And so again, if we go up to the, you know, 50,000 foot view here, on a cultural level, humor makes a company a place where people want to stay, they want to go to it, they want to stay at it and they want to be able to thrive inside of it. A culture that embraces humor encourages people to be themselves. Or as our friend Liz Moore has said, be able to show up as a whole ass human. Just be able to be who you are and be accepted and understand that that is a place where you belong. We all want this level of belonging, this culture. It's a place where leaders don't just dictate from the top, but join in on the fun, showing their human side. I could probably go on a whole wild tangent on like, we don't X, Y, Z with the fraternized. Anyway, inside jokes become part of the company's DNA. Shared laughter becomes a shorthand for, again, we're in this together as an entire organization. A culture where humor doesn't shy away from the tough stuff. Hey, it's down, it's dirty, it's in the trenches. The. But you know what? We can have some fun. We can implement humor where it makes sense to get through it. A culture that is doing this. It uses humor to approach challenges with optimism, to break down barriers, and to make even the most challenging day a little bit easier. By the way, as an owner of a company, trust me, we have challenging days. The only way that I can get through them is because I can laugh at myself. I can laugh at the situation, I can laugh with my employees who are going through those challenging days with me. And then it just doesn't feel like it sucks as bad as it probably actually did. You see, here's the thing. It doesn't mean that we're ignoring the serious moments, because trust me, while I'm doing all that laughing with and about, it also means that I'm facing and that we need to face cultures need to face and these things with strength supported by the connection and lightness that we are actually creating with this humor. And again, how this all ties together. Chris, is this ties into the purpose cornerstone? Because when people feel part of something bigger and can approach it joyfully, they're more driven and inspired. But here's the thing. I have to get to this point and ask, how do you know if you live in this world or not? And so again, here are some reflective questions where you can start to ask yourself, diagnose and think about. Does our company culture leverage humor? Do our company events and interactions naturally include moments of laughter that make people feel connected, or does everything feel strictly business when challenges arise? Can we use humor to ease tension and stay united, or do we get bogged down in stress and negativity? Are there shared rituals and habits or traditions that encourage humor and lightheartedness across teams, helping to foster or build a sense of belonging and joy? Again, how you answer those is really going to determine on how you kind of can move forward from the insights to take action. Here's the thing that I'm going to kind of keep going and drilling down. And I want to get this before we end the show is how can your organization get starting? Cultures lacking. And by the way, the reason I didn't bring up individual humans is if your team and culture are lacking, trust me, the root is the humans are probably lacking either the freedom, belief, or understanding of how they can implement humor in their own lives and in these team and culture dynamics. So how do we get started with humor? I think it starts with leaders. First, leaders need to lead by example. This means showing vulnerability, being willing to laugh at yourself, and creating spaces where humor is actually welcome. This aligns again with the love cornerstone. Leaders who show compassion and vulnerability set the stage for a culture of empathy and connection. Start meetings with a lighthearted question or a funny story. Celebrate the wins and the losses with a sense of humor. Let people know it's okay to be human. It's okay to mess up and to find the lighter side of things instead of it always being so deep and deadly. Encourage teams to find their humor rituals. Maybe a meme channel on Slack or a fail of the week. By the way, I literally have a daily victories channel. But I'm like, you know what? We need a fail of the week segment where everyone can share a moment that didn't go quite as planned, but we can laugh about it and we can learn from it and then make it clear that humor isn't about mocking or belittling. It's about uplifting. It's about connecting. It's about. About making work a place where people feel alive, not drained. You see, incorporating humor, it's a journey. It's definitely not a checkbox. I would say all of the ten pillars, the ten H's are not checkboxes. They are these things that we're trying to implement when we need them in our lives. And they can be fluid. But in this case, humor, it's about creating a culture where people feel they can be themselves, where work doesn't have to be a grind, and where a good laugh can be the spark that keeps everyone moving together. And by embracing the superhuman framework cornerstones, love, purpose, passion and persistence, and integrating the humor pillar into the culture, organizations can truly create these environments, dare I say, these experiences where everyone can thrive and feel superhuman. But I have to get down to the brass tacks because I know people watching this are. Are either head of teams or they might be like HR might get this video or this conversation. You have to ask yourself as an organization, why does all of this matter? What does Humor actually bring to the bottom line. In other words, in business terms, I'm hearing people out there say, how does this impact roi? The good ROI conversation. So when individuals, teams and cultures embrace humor, humor, they become more adaptable, connected and engaged. And that engagement translates directly into the ROI you as a company or team lead seek. When people are happier and more connected, they're more productive, they're more creative, they're more willing to go the extra mile. Teams that can laugh together have lower turnover rates and higher trust, which leads to better collaboration and efficiency. I hope you're getting that word cloud together right now. A company culture that incorporates humor is a culture where people want to stay, reducing the cost associated with the high turnovers and disengagement. Ultimately, humor isn't just a nice to have. It is literally a strategic advantage for your organization. It strengthens resilience, fosters creativity, and builds a workplace where people feel empowered and excited to freaking contribute to the things that you're doing. And that excitement, it drives innovation, customer satisfaction, and ultimately growth. So when you invest in humor, you're investing in a more profitable, sustainable future for your organization. Full stop, period. Chris, where's your brain, my friend?

It's definitely a powerful, powerful aspect. And like, thinking about it hard like this might be the hardest one, people, because it generally, like humor can take so many forms and the delivery and the reception of it and just is always, almost always situational. And that's why it can be hard to set boundaries around it specifically. Which means you gotta create the space where boundaries aren't necessarily needed at certain levels. Like, the first step for me is understanding the current state. I say that all the time related to, you know, rev ops and HubSpot and culture. Just understand the current state because it won't be readily apparent. And if you think it's readily apparent, please assume that it's not.

Yeah.

And dig in. Because some things that come to mind are like, is this why happy hours exist? When you know that everybody is looking forward to the happy hour after work? Try to understand why that is. Maybe there's some lack of safety, some lack of ability to share humor with each other during the workplace, but also those moments where it's like, we're going to meet today, but we're going to meet outside of the building.

Yeah.

We know we can open up more. We can, we feel like we can have a different conversation, often a more productive conversation. Right. Why do we have to meet outside the building to do that? Right.

Because the constraints that you built.

Yeah. Inside the building is not conducive to having great conversations, having productive conversations. Just those two things come to mind. Like, if you're struggling on where to start, on how to discover what the current state is, like, those two places, I think, like, might be. Might be the ticket for you.

Yeah, I totally agree with you. I would say everything that Chris said, and then again, I believe that the power around this one, in addition to what Chris said, is the power of reflection, which is why I wanted to give people these kind of reflective questions that they could pay attention to and also understand that you can't flip the switch and be like, and today we're all going to be funny. Which, by the way, I never used the word funny in this whole conversation until right now. Like, it's humor. And so there's a different way to look at it, a different way to think about it, a different way to implement it. And so I just hope people will take the time needed to figure out how to implement this in their organization, let it trickle down to their teams, and realize that it's going to impact their humans and maybe to the point where they don't need a happy hour to feel like they can survive the rest of their day, because it's been happy hours inside of the organization.

So find those opportunities and let's grow. Have a great day, everybody.