Topic: Humor at Work

Foreign. Good morning. I'm Guy Kawasaki. I am in Santa Cruz, California, and it is a happy day. This is Wednesday and we just released a new, new episode of Remarkable People. The guests were Jennifer Aker and Naomi Bagdonis. Or to remember her name, she says, just think of Bag of Donuts. They are two lecturers or instructors at the Stanford Business School. Jennifer, if you recognize her last name, Aker is also the daughter of David Aker, the godfather of branding. So clearly scholarly work runs in the DNA of that family. So, yeah, so they teach at Stanford Business School and believe it or not, they teach a course in humor. Yeah, wrap your mind around that. So Stanford Business School, you know, like the, just the center of capitalism in Silicon Valley, they're teaching a course in humor because humor is a superpower in business. So I want you all to think about that, you know, like, put it in the comments. When is the last time you made somebody laugh? I actually think my observation about this is that a sense of humor, both in knowing what to laugh at and the ability to make people laugh is a sign of intelligence. Because I don't think dumb people get jokes and I don't think dumb people can crack jokes. So, yeah, put it in the comments if you agree with that. I, I, man, I, There are a lot of politicians that just do not make me laugh. I mean, I can laugh at them, but I don't, I certainly don't laugh because of what they say, the insight, the hypocrisy, the, you know, whatever. It's not because of their intelligent, sarcastic, acerbic humors, because they're adults. So anyway, yeah, so when's the last time you made somebody laugh? And also I'd love to hear what people think, felt, oh, you know, have, when you work for someone or work for people who have a sense of humor, what do you think that's a positive or negative? And having said that, Steve Jobs had an extreme sense of humor, but it was a truly a biting sense of humor. And, well, I just think, you know, you can't measure people by Steve Jobs because he just has a different operating system. So anyway, they teach a class in humor and they, you know, are explaining people how to use humor, why they should use humor in business. And it's quite an entertaining session, to put it mildly. It was also a very challenging session to edit because this is the first time I had really. Well, actually I would take that back because I had sid and Shay McGee, but Sid and Shay McGee were sitting in different rooms in the same house this is the first time I had three people, myself and Naomi and Jennifer, like really physically separated. And as Jeff C. Will tell you, it was a challenge to edit this. If you, if you just FYI, if you want to know how the sausage is made, if you think it's as simple as turning on record, pressing stop, and then uploading, oh my God. Have you got something to learn about how podcasting is done? So, yeah, I really had a fun time. So one of the things that they say is a great way to use humor is misdirection. And so I used an example of misdirection to see if they thought it would work. And I'll. I'll tell you what the. My example was. So I often get invited to talk at very prestigious organizations, you know, the executive staff of, of Fortune 500 brands, associations of very, very CXO level kind of people, McKinsey, you know, off site, these kinds of things. And so when I speak at an event that is particularly prestigious, it's not the kind of event that anybody with $500 can attend. I mean, this is really like, you know, it's a privilege and an honor to go to one of these events. I always start with this story. And the story is, yeah. So, you know, I'm so happy and honored to be here as your keynote speaker in front of all you CXOs and all you, you know, moguls and mega business leaders of the country. It's such an honor. And, you know, I just kind of pinching myself that, that I've been given this honor. So I got to tell you, you know, right before I left for this trip, this is pre pandemic. Right before I left to this trip, I told my wife, you know, in your wildest dreams, did you ever think that your husband would be the keynote speaker at the McKenzie off site? And you know what my wife said? My wife said, honey, you're not in my wildest dreams. And I'll tell you that story, that joke has worked every, every time. So feel free to use that because I actually copied it from somebody also. So. And that's an example of misdirection, right? So I'm telling you this story. I'm saying that, you know, I asked my wife, did you ever think that I would be the keynote speaker this. And you fully expect me to say, and my wife said, of course, honey, I believe in you. You've done so much in your career, you've written 15 books, blah, blah, blah. So it's total misdirection where she just Comes off the wall and says, nah, you're not in my wildest dreams, honey. Of course I want you to know that that never really happened. I didn't ask my wife about that. So, yeah. So that's an example of misdirection, which is one of the key techniques of humor in business. They also, Jennifer and Naomi also address the meaning of happiness. And basically their, their observation is that the meaning of happiness is meaning, which is to say that you are happiest when you are actually making a difference in people's lives. So it's not necessarily correlated with income, but more, you know, what's the meaning? What meaning are you making in life? They also threw a number out at me that there's some research standing that once you make about $75,000 a year, the more you make, it doesn't really impact your level of happiness so much. Personally, I, I don't know how that could possibly be true. So I, that at least it should be more than 75,000. Let's just say so. Yeah. So you will really enjoy this episode. It's based on this, a book called Humor Seriously that came out today. So, yeah, we, I think we timed it perfectly. And tonight, if by any chance you're on Clubhouse tonight at 7 Pacific, I will have both of them on with me at Clubhouse to discuss happiness and humor in business. So let's open it up for questions. Fire away, Jeff. Kathryn, I love your telling the full truth. I actually took this from somebody else, and that's something that's really funny about you. Cracks me up every time. It cracks you up that I'm honest. So, Catherine, I will actually tell you the source of that story is an elder at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and I, I, I heard him use it in a speech. As soon as I heard it, I said, I've got to rip this off. One of the things I learned at Apple is, you know, you got to know what to rip off. It takes a certain element of knowledge and expertise to know what to steal, and that story is definitely worth stealing. So what else, Catherine? Laughter breaks barriers and breaks the ice in sticky situations. Everyone loves to work in an environment that sees the sunny side of life licking. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I absolutely agree with that. And there is some truth to the concept that laughter is the best medicine. And I don't know, I'm a happy guy, so I'm laughing all the time. Yeah. Cancel culture, cancels humor. It's sad because we need fun. Some students are taught to look for the political Incorrect. And that can be very subjective. I, I would agree that, you know, a lot of it is mindset, right? So some people have the mindset of, you know, they're looking for what's wrong in the world, how they've been screwed, why it's somebody else's fault. And some people view the world as half full. And, you know, what's good about life and what's good about what's happening. As you can probably guess, I'm definitely a kind of person who believes that the glass is half full. In fact, I probably believe that the glass is 90% full. So, yeah, that's, that's where I'm coming from. Kit Griffin, not so silly. Inappropriate humor can get you fired. Well, you know, Kit, that's true, but I'm not advocating inappropriate humor. I mean, inappropriate seriousness can get you fired too. So I don't think that's the test. I, I have. Well, I've never been fired. Let me think about that. I don't think I've been fired. And if I was fired, it certainly wasn't for cracking jokes. Yeah, so, yeah, I mean, I'm not disagreeing with you, but I'm saying I'm not advocating that you crack inappropriate jokes. What else you and David Letterman Both use top 10 list coincidence. It's actually not a coincidence. It's. I stole that from David Letterman. So I used to be a Letterman fan. And, and I notice that a top 10 format for a speech is very effective. And I'll tell you why it is. Because it gives your speech a structure. And so rather than sort of meandering all over the place, if you know that you have 10 key points to make, it gives you some kind of framework and structure for your speech. I also think that it helps the audience because I have sat in many keynotes and, you know, the person just goes on and on and on, and you have no idea. Is this person almost done? What are these key points in this person's speech? But if you use a top 10, and you know, like I say, all right, so number one is make meaning. Number two is jump to the next curve. Number three is don't worry, be crappy. Number four is an enable people to test drive your, your product or service. Number five is let 100 flowers bloom. And number six is change. Be sure to revise your revolution. I think that it highlights it. Okay, so Guy is telling me number six is this. That means it's one of his key points. And it also means that he has four more to go. So you can kind of figure out, you know, how much longer I'm going to go and where I'm headed, which I think is a great service to an audience. Yeah. So. So the short answer to your question is yes, there's. It is not a coincidence that Letterman and I use the top 10. It's because I copied him. Frankly, I would advise every speaker to use the top 10. That would really help the world. But anyway, what else, Jeff? So should UBI be set to maximize happiness at 1500 bucks a week? 1500 bucks a week? You. What government in the world can send $6,000 per citizens per month? I mean, I don't. That. That seems a little high to me. Okay, next question. It's hard to hate someone once you've shared a laugh with them. For those of you us Droid users, can we hear it somewhere? Amy, I have to tell you, I am fairly familiar with Android and there are lots of the Android operating system that I think are better than the Macintosh or not the MacIntosh and the iOS system. Until very recently, for example, one of my favorite things about the Android system was that there was a view where every app on your phone was alphabetically listed. Now, recently that came to iOS, but until very recently, you know, I, as an iOS user, I could tell you there are many times like, I know I have the United app or I, you know, I know I have my lose it weight control app and I can't find it. I know I know what the icon looks like and it's buried in some folder somewhere. So I know I can swipe down and, you know, put in letters to search. But God, I mean, I just wish there was an alphabetical listing of all the apps. And so that was a thing that I loved about Android that wasn't on iOS until recently. Another thing on Android is that you could actually change the defaults. So, you know, until recently, if you wanted Chrome to be your default browser on iOS, you suck. I mean, whereas on Android you can make whatever browser you're near default. So there are lots of things I liked about Android anyway. What else? Any technology, not just photo video, you're either hoping for looking forward to being released in 2021, I would love to see. I. I recently interviewed Lauren Coons. She is the CEO of a company called Pandora Bots. Pandora Bots is the company that created Kooky, the chat bot. And I love chatbots. I hope that I don't think they're there yet in terms of fooling people that you're actually dealing with a Human. But the concept of a chatbot just appeals to me just in terms of efficiency. And I tell you, as a marketer, in two years, which is what her prediction is, in two years, when chatbots are indistinguishable from humans, I think we're going to have a lot of digital influencers. Now imagine if you're a brand and you can create a digital influencer, right? So this digital influencer is not going to get drunk, is not going to binge on cocaine, is not going to get arrested for drunk driving, is not going to storm the Capitol, is not going to do a lot of stupid stuff. This chatbot will always be on message. This chatbot will never, ever do anything unethical or immoral. I mean, unless you program the chatbot to do that. And so, God, the concept of a digital influencer appeals to me a lot as a marketer. So that's what I'm looking forward to. But that may take two years. Lauren Coons and Kooky, which, believe it or not, I interviewed Kooky in the episode, is coming up in a couple weeks. So what else, Jeff? What's the best way to go about infusing humor into business without coming off as a wise guy or cavalier? Alexander, that question is answered in the book. So I am going to tell you, if you want to hear that answer, go to Humor. Seriously. It's by Jennifer Acker and Naomi Bag of Donuts, or Bag Donuts, actually. So, yeah, they talk about how to use humor, the appropriateness, the methods, what. What kind of humor to use. Definitely it's not as simple as, you know, go up and crack dirty jokes. Okay. If humor is so vital, why do you think. Why do you think it is that good news cannot dominate bad news on major media? I think that those two things are orthogonal, that, you know, news, bad news does sell. Right. So, you know, you don't read any stories. Senior citizen gets a vaccine, doesn't have any bad reactions and doesn't get the coronavirus. Now, you do read the story that one person took the vaccine and died, you know, or something like that, because that's the unusual one, not the usual one. So I think that's the nature of news, and it means that you have to be very discriminating how you interpret news. So, for example, the story of, I think 23 people in Norway got the vaccine and died. Well, if you really think about it, in Norway, they gave vaccine to very old, very sick people. So to truly understand the impact of the vaccine, you'd have to Know, well, you know, were 23 people going to die anyway in that same timeframe? Did more people die because the vaccine? Did fewer people die because of vaccine? But just knowing that 23 people who took the vaccine died. Not that useful data point, because you have to compare it to the baseline. So I think it takes great discrimination. Now, you know, are you saying that, Well, I think there's a false dichotomy that you're saying that, well, bad news sells, so why should you use humor? But it's completely different thing. I mean, to peak interest, maybe bad news sells, but to get things done, I think humor sells. So it's. It's a different purpose. Humor is very important to increase the connection and collaborative work with partners, I would say. I absolutely agree. I'm telling you, humor is a sign of intelligence. Okay, what else? The artist Start has revolutionized my attitude. Thank you. You're very welcome. Thank you very much. He's referring or God, that went away. I don't know if that was a he or she is referred to a book I wrote called Let me go get. This book. This book is called the Art of the Start. And I swear it is the de facto standard for people starting companies to read this book. So. Some of you tech geeks may have noticed something. So when I just left, the picture remained out of focus, Right. So what does that mean? It means that I don't have that camera set to autofocus because I have figured out. And it was on this telecast that I figured this out. So I used to have this camera set to autofocus, and as I moved around, it would constantly be hunting to keep me in focus. And so you would see the camera hunting and, you know, trying to maintain focus. But so you would think, okay, so, yeah, you're doing a video, and you want your face constantly in focus to set autofocus or even eye focus. And that would be the way to do it. But then everybody sees that it goes out of focus and in focus. So now what I've done is I have set this focus to manual. And prior to a session like this, I make it so that at this plane, the camera is in focus. And then I set the aperture so that I have about, you know, this much depth of focus. So the front of my face and the. And the, you know, where the focus goes out is probably about 6 or 9 inches. So that way I can kind of move, you know, this much and you won't tell. Also, I love to talk about this kind of stuff. This camera, It's a Sony A7C is what it says. I have turned on not only manual focus, but focus peaking. And what this means is that I can look at the LCD panel that's part of the camera and when my face is in focus, there is a yellow tinge around it and that's, it's showing you that, you know, guy, this is what's in focus, that yellow thing. So whenever I want to check if my focus, if my face is in the right plane, I just move around a little bit. And when I see the, the focus peaking happen on my face, I know that, yeah, that's perfect. So right now it's yellow. You can set the color to yellow, white or red. This is a really deep dive into Sony here. So I'm look, the reason why I'm not looking at the lens is because I'm looking at the LCD panel of the camera. And I can tell you right there, it's saying that my hair in particular is in perfect focus. So that's a power tip for you if you're using a digital slr, a DSLR for video conferencing. Contrary to what you might think, my advice is set it to manual focus, get the focus plane and kind of stay in that area and then you never have to worry about it again. So what else? Jeff, glad you talk a bit more about humor and latter and creative thinking. Edward De Bono wrote in Serious Creativity, humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain. Really? Humor is the most significant activity? Well, I can tell you something. There are some human brains that are not focused on humor. I won't name names, but yeah. Okay, what else? The Art of Start is excellent for all. Alexander, thank you very much. You know, it may be time to revise the Art of the Start because that was written pre pandemic and this pandemic is going to be around with us for a while. So that definitely adjusts. You know, for example, there's not one word in there about how to do a remote pitch because that book was written before you had to do remote pitches. So maybe I should revise that book. So what's your biggest regret and why? Well, Anna, you're listening to a guy who left Apple twice, turned down Steve Jobs for another offer after that, turned down the ability to opportunity to interview for the CEO position of Yahoo when it was the first CEO. So if you just added up those four things, it's probably $3 billion. So that'll keep you up at night for a while. But other than that, I don't have many regrets. It's not that I didn't make mistakes. I just don't have that many regrets. Things have a way of working out. So what do you feel exemplifies incorporating humor in business appropriately? Who do you feel exemplifies incorporating humor in business appropriately? Richard Branson. I think Richard Branson does it appropriately. Let's see, you could be on Clubhouse tonight at 7 Pacific and you could ask Jennifer and Naomi this. So that's it's an interesting question here. So how many of you are on Clubhouse? Let's just put in a comment that you're in Clubhouse. Yeah, so I think Richard Branson would be a very good example. Also in politics. I think Barack Obama has a great sense of humor. Just fantastic sense of humor. Let's see who else might, you know. Oh boy, it's a short list, huh? So anyway, those two do you miss south by Wolfgang? Wolfie I miss south by Southwest a lot. I especially miss working with Mercedes. At south by Southwest. I have a Mercedes mattress. This Mercedes mattress has been upfitted by Peace fans so that it is a weekender. It has a lie flat bed and a pop top. So actually two people can sleep on one level and two more people can sleep in the pop top. So really four people can sleep in there. Both driver and passenger change chairs, can swivel 180 degrees. There's a table there between the first and second row. I love my mattress. So yeah, I do miss south by Southwest a lot. I. Let's see. Well there sure as hell not gonna be one this March because it's already February. But I sure hope they're south by Southwest again. I love south by Southwest. Another Wolfgang, I love working with Mercedes and I sure wish you guys would send some electric Mercedes over to America or at least plug ins. So that's Wolfgang. Catherine, you turned me on to Clubhouse. Thanks. Love it. What is the name of the event tonight at 7? Is it your room? Catherine it is going to be my room. If you follow me, I think you get a notice. I probably will call it Humor comma Seriously because that's the name of the book. So humor, seriously. 7pm Pacific. Be there or be square. So let's see. Lindsay, I am in corporate interiors. What is your opinion in the future of the workplace? Do you feel that people need yearn for face to face interactions within a corporate office? Boy, Lindsay, wow, that is an interesting business to be in corporate interiors. You know, this pandemic, it's not going to go on forever. There will be a return to going to the office. I think it's going to take a long time and I think that people's expectations have definitely changed so that I don't think, you know, let's say magically, everybody gets vaccinated. Herd mentality is achieved. Not herd mentality. We already have herd mentality. Herd immunity has achieved, has been achieved. And you know, magically, on I don't know, call it September 1st, we can all go back to work. I don't think everybody's going to go back to work. Some companies have instituted permanent work at home policies and a lot of people have figured out that you don't really need to go to work to be efficient and to be effective. So, you know, that may mean there's a very different way to design an office when you people aren't assigned a particular physical space that's theirs. So it's all about flexibility. I think it's definitely going to change how you design a corporate interior. Yeah, Samir, humor inspired me the most when I first saw your TEDx talk. And you were over time then, yeah, Samir, how are you? Samir is the CEO of a company called Social Champ and it is the social media posting app that I use. I view my, my role in social media as a curator, so I'm constantly looking for articles to post to my followers and usually I'm using Social Champ to do the posting. I, I like to write once and post many. So with Social Champ, I post to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn simultaneously and I set up a schedule in Social Champ so that I can either post immediately, I can schedule manually, or I can just say put it in the queue and send it out according to the schedule that I have set for all my posts. So, yeah, see, Obama was great in Comedians in Cars getting coffee. Yeah, he truly was great at that. He was also great with Mark. What's the podcaster named? Mark Madsen or Mark Madison or whenever Obama was in that guy Mark's garage and did the interview. That was fantastic. Just the level of sarcasm. I just love sarcasm. So. We don't need herd mentality? Yeah, we certainly don't need herd mentality. Well, there's only two herds right now, but yeah, yeah, we need her immunity, not mentality. That's a funny, funny slip. Sometimes you're funny without doing it on purpose. So yeah. So okay, just remember, listen to this week's podcast with Jennifer Aker and Naomi Bagadonuts. They're both talking about the role of humor and happiness in business. And tonight, 7pm on Clubhouse, look for a room called humor comma, Seriously. I will be there with the two authors and, and let's see if you're interested in vaccination. A few weeks ago, I did an interview with nine social psychology and behavioral scientists answering the very most basic question we have right now, which is how do we get everybody to get vaccinated? So using social psychology and behavioral science. So that was a special edition of the podcast. It had not one guest, but nine. So if you're interested in social psychology, incidentally, the stuff they talk about, such as, you know, using social proof and using questions instead of budgeting people can be applied to any kind of product or service. It's not just vaccination. So if you're interested in, you know, using the techniques of influence and persuasion, be sure to listen to the Art of the Psychology of Vaccination is the name of that episode. So as you can see, the Earl, the link is remarkablepeople.com we're here every Wednesday at 10am and I have to go prepare for the next person I'm interviewing. I'm interviewing her today. Her name is Melissa Goldstein and she is the co founder of Doug and Melissa the Toy Company. So I bet many of you have bought the toy that has like the fuzzy sheep and the, so there's, it's like puzzles with texture. I know we had that for our kids. So that's, that's who I'm interviewing today at noon. I need to prepare for her for that interview. And yeah, remarkable people Clubhouse tonight. Wash your hands, wear a mask, don't go into crowded places. And if you could get vaccinated, get vaccinated. I am. I'm 66. So I'm in that, you know, class 1B. I have a schedule. I've scheduled a vaccination. I hope they don't cancel it because California is not exactly kicking ass in terms of vaccination. So if any of you are doctors in California and one day your freezer breaks and you're anywhere from, let's say, Monterey to San Francisco and your freezer breaks and you have an extra vaccine, just send me a direct message. I'll be there. Alrighty. So take care. Have a great week. See you next Wednesday. Remember, remarkablepeople. Com. Thank you very much.