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Humour, Seriously

Why Humour Is a Superpower at Work and in Life

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Humour, Seriously

By: Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas
Narrated by: Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Fred Sanders, Michael Lewis
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Anyone - even you! - can learn how to harness the power of humour in business (and life).

Some people think the workplace is no place for funny business. But the upside of humour for our careers is significant. A recent survey of more than 700 CEOs showed that 98 per cent prefer job candidates with a sense of humour and 84 per cent think that funny employees do better work.

Psychologist Dr Jennifer Aaker and comedian Naomi Bagdonas' research has shown that humour makes us feel more competent and confident, strengthens relationships and boosts resilience during difficult times.

Based on the popular course 'Humour: Serious Business' at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where Aaker and Bagdonas help some of the world's most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds build levity into their organisations and lives, Humour, Seriously will show you how to use humour to:

  • enhance creativity and problem-solving
  • influence and motivate others
  • build bonds and defuse tension within teams
  • create a culture where colleagues feel safe, appreciated and joyful

Drawing on behavioural science, advice from world-class comedians and stories from top business leaders, you'll learn how to mine your life for material, which category of office comic you fall into and how to keep it appropriate - and recover if you cross a line!

Humour is a superpower. If you're not using it, the joke's on you.

©2020 Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas (P)2020 Penguin Audio Career Success Employment Meetings & Presentations Career Comedy Business Celebrity Jokes

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All stars
Most relevant  
It's an okay book. Some useful info and examples but a good chunk of the book sounds very preachy and sanctimonious. A lot of opinion being passed off as fact over the "correct" way to do humour even though comedy is recognised by the authors as subjective and highly individual and contextual. There was also reliance on highly debatable and largely discredited research which felt unnecessary. This isn't the first comedy book I've listened to that tries to use academia to back up its points of view. Improv comedy books notoriously over-rely on explaining things through Neo-Freudian research. It's completely unnecessary. To explain humour, I'd rather hear the authors own views on what they think it is - it would be a lot more insightful than having to listen to the Sapir-whorf hypothesis and what academics debate.

Kinda preachy

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Found great science-based advice on joyful ways to interact with colleagues in my new remote job.

Great to connect with others in a virtual setting

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I liked the destruction of comedy the most. The first couple of chapters were lots of selling i humour and the later ones high level selling of humour to leaders. I would have preferred more hands application advice.

The gags in the book were killed by the narrators ability to use comic timing which is ironic!

A mixed bag

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💪 Humour is like a muscle: it atrophies when not used.

🤡 We wrongly think that a lack of humour signals professionalism.

👶 Humour humanises us.

😝 Humour is a superpower that we all poses.

🤔 With great humour comes great responsibility. Humour can shed light on very important issues.

✨ "I am not funny. I'm brave.”

Funny, but wait...

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I came across this book from listening to the authors appearing on the Happier podcast. I've always been the serious parent, he's the fun one but I wanted that to change so I used my latest audible credit to buy this book.

The book is a mix of inspiration (academic research and countless examples) as well as practical steps.

I think the value in books like these is how easy it is actually start doing what is being recommended, provided you've been inspired to taken action of course. Already, I am finding opportunities for levity in my personal and professional life. I'm certainly smiling more at home and the relationship I have with my pre-teen is better than before, just by noticing opportunities for humour and tapping into them.

It's in my professional life that things have changed the most. Before even finishing the book, I have used a post-script on emails to colleagues, commented on the similarity and differences between a supplier and a project with the same name, but my favourite so far is setting a meeting for the team, including my boss, with the title "I'm not missing this meeting for anything!".

Who knew humour could be so accessible, rewarding and cost less than 12.85 minutes of therapy.

Enlightening, inspiring & cheaper than therapy

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I'd already started recommending this book to my colleagues after just reading the first chapter! If you, like me, had a hunch that humour and levity could be a superpower at work, here is your bible to go forth and spread the joy!

Release the joy!!!

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Reminded me and reinforced with several relevant examples of the importance of humour and levity in my work life, personal life and relationships.

Thought provoking

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I loved this book, though I already knew a fair bit about the subject, I found it well presented and full of meaningful anecdotes.
Furthermore, I liked the easy going style it's written in (and read, in the Audible format).
I believe all leaders in companies should read it: it's about time we tear down this aura of seriousness and toughness that surrounds too many powerful people.
I liked the concept of humour as a superpower. I wish it substituted authoritative leadership in companies.

loved it!

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None of my teachers who thought they were funny were not...
Academics expounding humour often elicit a curdling eek and often summon the ghost of mirth upon the boards with a haunting creek. Shhhhhhh.
Vocal fry doesn't make one funny, just presumably infectious. Smug sounding frogs might sound funny to other smug frogs but my eyes glazed over after 10 minutes and then constantly pushing the 30 seconds advance button further inducing the stupor. Funny bones are for life not just charisma's.

Todally todally bullfrogs croaking in my ear holes

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