Humour, Seriously: Why Humour Is A Superpower At Work And In Life

Having a sense of humour—both the ability to generate humour and to appreciate it—has repeatedly been found to correlate with measures of intelligence.

psychological safety—the belief that we won’t be punished or ridiculed when we make a mistake—makes us more open-minded, resilient, motivated, and persistent.

Words matter little; behavior and attitude are what count. A sense of humour is part of what makes us human. It’s a deeply connecting and empowering thing. Deploying it doesn’t make light of serious things, it means you’re able to move forward, in spite of those serious things.

Levity is a mindset—an inherent state of receptiveness to (and active seeking of) joy.

Remember, the bar for humour in the business world is extremely low. The goal isn’t to elicit raucous, rolling-on-the-floor laughter; it’s simply to create a moment of connection. Often, all it takes is a mindset of levity to transform a relationship or moment.

By working humour into our professional interactions, we can serve our colleagues this powerful hormone cocktail, and in doing so we can literally change their—and our—brain chemistry on the spot.

The balance of gravity and levity gives power to both.

Like the old saying goes: Comedy equals tragedy plus time.

“Fear is the greatest killer of creativity,” Asai explained, “and humour is the most effective tool I’ve found for insulating cultures from fear.”