- Corporate experience. We’ve lived (and succeeded) in the corporate world. Our team consists of top-rated employees at Fortune 500 companies, award-winning professors at universities, and a former cashier at a grocery store.
- Humor experience. We are active humorists. We’ve performed in 2,000+ shows in front of more than 50,000 people in all 50 states and 20+ countries.
- Corporate humor experience. We’ve already worked with 250+ organizations using humor in the workplace. Past clients include Fortune 100 Companies, fast-rising start ups, and top universities.
But don’t just believe us. See what people are saying.
Our History by Andrew Tarvin
The Beginning of Humor That Works
The humble beginnings of Humor That Works start back in 2007 when I was working for Procter & Gamble. I decided to start blogging internally and decided to touch on an area I was slowly gaining interest in–humor in the workplace.
See, I have always been an engineer–it’s how I think, it’s how I work, it’s how I decided to spend my life (getting a degree in Computer Science & Engineering). But while in college, I was introduced to improv, and later stand-up, and while they started out as hobbies, they quickly became full-on passions of mine.
So when I started this internal blog, I decided to talk about a subject that I had once considered trivial, one that, as an engineer, I thought was all hype and no substance:
“Have fun at work,” “Enjoy what you do,” “Have a personality.”
The engineer in me didn’t really care about those things–I cared about getting results, improving my work, and delivering real value.
As it turns out, those two things are connected. Having fun at work improves productivity, increases morale, and enhances relationships. Enjoying what you do increase work-life satisfaction, prevents burnouts, and reduces stress. Having a personality just makes you not a bore to be around.
That’s what I discovered when I started researching and writing about humor in the workplace:
Humor in the workplace wasn’t about “touchy-feely, let’s all hold hands, hooray happiness,” …it was about finding ways to be effective with fellow human beings.
Being a humorist wasn’t about being a corporate clown or dressing like a jester, …it was about doing things in a way so people actually paid attention and remembered what they needed to.
Using humor didn’t mean saying “So a horse walks into a bar…” …it meant finding ways to do things differently so people could work smarter and better.
And as I wrote about these discoveries, along with research, case studies, and examples of people who used humor to improve communication or enhance leadership, people started responding. I quickly became one of the top internal blogs at P&G and people were asking me to speak at their leadership events, team off-sites, and, in one case, a Senior VPs personal party for their 50th birthday.
Humor That Works is Born
In 2009 I decided that more of the world could benefit from this “soft-skill” of humor in the workplace (after all, if it worked in the largest consumer goods company in the world, a Fortune 20 company consistently ranked as a top place for leadership, it would probably work in other companies as well).
And so, Humor That Works was born. Since it’s inception, we’ve worked with more than 100 organizations on topics ranging from humor in the workplace to communicating confidently to the power of strategic disengagement.
Every year, millions of people from all around the world visit www.HumorThatWorks.com. Thousands have downloaded or purchased one of our books. Thousands of others have taken a training, class, or coaching session to learn how to improve their work and live happier.
And it works. We’ve worked with the corporate world, educational fields, non-profit sectors, and species of human beings, teaching how to use humor. Not because humor is fun (though admittedly it is pretty sweet) but because humor works.
It works in creating better leaders, improving presentations, building engagement, enhancing training, developing better relationships, and increasing productivity. It works in all organizations, all industries and with (nearly) all people (though not necessarily all of the time).
So if you’re ready for more, check out our resources for individuals, our programs for organizations, or read our latest blog post.