fear

Safe at Home

By on March 29, 2011 in Quick Wisdom

I recently came across an old picture of me in my North Sycamore baseball uniform and it reminded me of the years I spent playing baseball. I wasn’t bad, but also not that good. It’s hard to do well in baseball when you’re scared of the ball whenever you go to bat.

As I think about it more, the term “home” (as in homeplate) is quite a fitting analogy for life and how we can become at “home” with ourselves.

When you stand at home to bat (or “live” in this metaphor), you’ll have people who are there to help you (base coaches), people who may distract you (the catcher), authority figures (umpires) and casual observers (fans). But most importantly, you’ll also have someone hurling opportunities at you. Fast, frightening opportunities. And while those opportunities may be scary, and there is a chance some will hurt, they’re also something for you to take advantage of.

Not every opportunity is right for you (it may be out of the strikezone). You don’t have to hit a homerun with every single one–a single or double is great. And even if you don’t get a hit at every at-bat, you know that more opportunities will come–either in the same at-bat or on another day.

And if you fail? Don’t worry, it’s par for the course. Heck, if you’re able to take advantage of even one out of four of your at-bats in life you can be in the Major Leagues.

Now here’s the scariest part. In order to really succeed, every now and then, you have to leave home. You have to go on a journey around the diamond. But the good news is that you’ll back, and when you return safe at home, you’ll be better than when you left.

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5 Myths of Humor at Work

By on February 24, 2010 in Learn with Humor

When you take a look at all of the benefits of humor, it’s hard to understand why there isn’t more humor at work.  This is getting better (I don’t think they were having a whole lot of fun in the coal mines, but I could be wrong), but there is still far too little fun in the workplace.

photo by sarej

So what’s preventing work from actually being enjoyable?  Here are 5 things people believe that are stopping them from having more fun.

1) Humor at work is inappropriate.

The biggest reason most people don’t have fun at work is they think it’s inappropriate.  They believe that “business is serious, so we better be serious.”  Apparently no one told Google or Zappos this.

The reality is that humor in the workplace leads to happier, healthier and more productive employees.

2) No one will take me seriously.

Some people worry that if they use humor in the workplace, no one will take them seriously when it comes to actual business.  Luckily, this isn’t true.  In fact, leaders use humor, not ignore it.  As Mr. Smith (that’s Sydney Smith, not Agent Smith) said:

“You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave.” – Sydney Smith

3) There’s nothing fun about what I do.

Many people refuse to believe that there job can be more fun.  And while I won’t deny that some jobs are less fun than others, it doesn’t mean any job can’t be improved.  Whether you work at a fast-food restaurant, do data entry or manage a small company, your work can be more fun, it’s just a matter of finding out how.

Simple challenges to yourself or coworkers can help you get you through your day; setting your desktop background to something you want to achieve can give you inspiration; playing with a slinky during downtime can give you something to do–there are hundreds of ways to have humor at work.

4) It takes too time / cost too much money.

Some people fear that incorporating humor in the workplace means huge effort and spending money.   Humor at work doesn’t require elaborate events or special props–phone calls can made more fun by playing some music or sharing some pictures.

Keep your humor effort simple and you’ll have fun without any additional overhead.

5) No one else cares.

People desperately want you to help them have fun.  Think about who you like to spend time with in the office, it’s the people who always have that interesting story to share or that funny video from YouTube.

Using humor at work requires leadership, and you’re a leader aren’t you?  Even if you are in the lowest position at your company, you can take the initiative to make the workplace more enjoyable.  All it takes is a little creativity.

Need ideas on adding humor at work?  Check out some posts on how to use humor in the workplace.  Got a few ideas of your own? Leave ‘em in the comments.

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Using Improv Methods to Overcome the Fear Factor

By on April 30, 2009 in Humor Benefits

Fear is not something that should be feared.  At least that’s the idea presented in the article Using Improv Methods to Overcome the Fear Factor by Tom Yorton, president of Second City Communications (available for purchase at Wiley InterScience).

The article discusses how and why improv can be effectively used in the workplace to overcome fear, and the value of overcoming fear is. Some of my key take-aways included:

  • “You’ll be surprised at how well improv techniques transfer to the corporate stage to help organizations improve productivity, become more innovative, and dramatically increase employee job satisfaction.” (page 7)
  • “Our ability to succeed is directly related to our willingness to fail.” (page 8)
  • “…fear is worth exploring.  The tension and discomfort we feel is usually an indication that something big and important is at stake.” (page 10)
  • “Seemingly small contributions matter a great deal to the whole…” because “… the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” (page 11)
  • “The message underlying all the lessons of improvisation is to be courageous, to go out there and take risks–to use the natural fear of failure as the fuel for success.” (page 12)

Source: Using Improv Methods to Overcome the Fear Factor by Tom Yorton.  Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 2005.

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