“What did the number zero say to the number eight?”  

“I like your belt.” 

Okay, I’m not going to make any kind of a living out of stand-up comedy.  

And I certainly am not good at telling jokes.  

But what I do love is using humor or personality in the workplace.  

Actually, I like it in life.  

Because underneath any suit we wear, any outfit we don, any makeup we put on our face, there’s a human being.  

And most humans like to have a laugh or like to have a smile, even if it’s only on the inside.   

And I’ve just finished reading this amazing book written by two very, very clever professors from Stanford University.  

It’s called ‘Humour, Seriously’ and it’s packed full of research around how humour in the workplace is kind of like a superpower.   

It helps you build better relationships.  

It helps you build stronger connections.  

It helps you do really serious work and get more creative.   

And at the same time, you have a laugh and who doesn’t like that.  

Now, one thing that came out really clearly from the book is humour and personality does not necessarily mean being funny. 

Because like I said, I’ll put my hand up, I’m not necessarily the funniest person, but I can have a laugh at myself.   

And I can have a laugh or find moments where I can have a laugh as much as I physically can.  

So I’m sure you get this as well.   

But in my mailbox each day, I get so much junk mail.  

A lot of it from real estate agents, actually, but the other day, I was pleasantly surprised.  

Mind you, underwhelmingly pleasantly surprised.  

I got this little flimsy piece of paper, obviously from a real estate agent.   

Well, when I say obviously because they all seem to come out like this. 

Black and white photo I wasn’t so keen on, it looks really boring and really dull.   

However, the wording was okay, but what I loved most was her comment down the very, very bottom. 

I’ll just read it to you.   

It says, “If you’re not selling, that’s okay. Please recycle and use the back of this flyer as a shopping list. I deliver them myself and would hate for it to go to waste.”   

Tell you what I love about it.  

Firstly, it made me smile.  

None of those other flyers made me smile.  

Secondly, it touched on a truth of the everyday because I do use the back of these flyers as shopping lists.   

So she hit a truth.   

It was light.  

But importantly, it was appropriate.  

It wasn’t out of place.  

It wasn’t like me trying to tell a joke at an inappropriate time, or, for that matter an inappropriate joke.   

So all of those things added up to me now sharing it with you, but sharing how easy humour can be.  

It’s not about being funny or getting the most laughs.  

It’s about where can you just inject some something, some words or something that you’re doing that will give people a chance to have a smile, maybe have a giggle and a chuckle.  

And even when you’re doing really serious work, this doesn’t need to distract from it, but it can actually make it more enjoyable, more rewarding, get people to do stuff you need them to do and put a smile on their face.  

So where abouts in your business or in life can you look for opportunities to make people smile, make them have a laugh and use it as a superpower for building your business.  

Because after all, You are Valuable