Humour is indisputably one of the most important elements of our lives. It has been proven that laughter and smiling trigger positive mental processes in the brain that have positive effects on performance from the ground up. However, we must also mention that one’s sense of humour is a strong intellectual indicator. So when we talk about managers, that’s why they generally warn everyone about the use of humour in business. This is mostly a precaution. Because humour has a very close relationship not only with intelligence, but also with empathy and self-esteem. Thus, it is understandable why a good sense of humour is important during a pandemic and the period that follows: it is a vitally important quality that can elicit joy.
Thin ice
This image comes to mind when we talk about humour in business circles, as most everyone thinks they have a good sense of humour. And if you have already received positive feedback about this in your life, it is very difficult to explain to you that it might not be your strength. Yes, humour is extremely influenced by our environment, and we need to take that into account. If we operate in business, or at any higher level, it doesn’t matter what the “average people” thought of us. Everyone likes to think of themselves as intelligent, and on top of that, intelligence is still confused by many in this world with general education. But unfortunately, the fact that someone gathers a lot of information, reads a lot, and is fundamentally informed — these are, of course, extremely important elements of our lives and success, and of course they influence the sale of the “I’m smart” image. What’s more, humour really doesn’t just depend on intelligence; it also has a close relationship with empathy. For a really good joke, these two are definitely needed. On the other hand, talented comedians have another important feature: they have relentless self-criticism, so they can easily make fun of themselves. That is, if one grows up in an environment, corporate culture, or social setting where any of these components are missing, one can easily think that they are funny, as “they were always considered funny”. But the main question at this point is who found it funny, who laughed at their “jokes”, and whether they had enough empathy beyond the desire to perform to see if they ever hurt anyone, or if there were any who didn’t find their jokes so funny? After all, personality types react differently to a misdirected sentence, one that was intended as a joke but did not land. There are huge setbacks from this in business, when someone is the typical “funny guy” during their school years and thinks there is no more comical person than him, and then he is calmly and quickly pushed out of business. His career is in decline as he encounters more and more people with his “fantastic sense of humour” who are introverted but have become serious businesspeople over time. In schools, they were the ones who didn’t laugh, or sometimes forced a smile at the jokes of loud companions. They had an opinion, of course, but they didn’t consider it important to say it, or they simply waved at that “comedian”. This, in turn, is very dangerous in business and quickly bounces back in results.
What is behind it
There are serious expectations about humour in business and the more meaningful adult environment in general. Which, of course, do not appear to those who accomplish these by their very nature. Business humour is important because it is a testament to self-esteem and empathy. It’s not the content of humour that’s the most important — though it doesn’t hurt if it works well — it’s its timing that’s applied in the right environment and company. We need to be able to perceive our environment very well in order for the “jokes to land”. Alongside this, self-esteem must be there so that one can laugh at oneself. At your own weaknesses and negative personality traits. Because there’s nothing more humorous in business than when we joke about how we wanted to fix a non-sympathetic trait, but we didn’t really succeed. We will be more human, but we will remain conscious in the eyes of the audience. Humour in a more meaningful adult environment is not about joking or using the right techniques, but about the factors already mentioned.
There can be big differences in humour between businesspeople and the average person, between managers and employees who want to work eight hours a day. That is, what works in one place does not always work in another, or at least not in the same way. If you want to know how humorous we are in business, ask managers about our humour, because it doesn’t matter what friends or others say on this topic. And I hope you can already see that this is not the difference between intelligence, but in most cases, the difference is caused by self-esteem and empathy.
(Next comes 2nd place: Credibility / Self-assessment)
Prev episode
The Most Important Manager Features of 2021-22, 4th Place: Happiness