Story 1: Don’t Do This

I got one of those broadcast email solicitations from a very reputable organization that hosts executive roundtables. Brian (a stranger to me) wanted me to attend an informational meeting. To his credit, he “had me at hello” with the very first lines of his email, which were both personal and complimentary: “Andrea, let me first say I LOVE the name of your company and the genesis of it…the ‘new beat’ story. Outstanding!”

“Wow,” I thought, “He’s taken the time to find out about BossaNova and make a personal connection to me. He gets me! He likes me! I like this guy!”

What followed was a directive to “Read on” with a photo of a jubilant baseball team and the assertion that “There are lessons you learn in Baseball that can apply to business leaders like YOU once you understand their importance and their impact” (with a bulleted list of those very lessons). His call to action at the end of the email was aggressive and impersonal.

Brian had me right off the bat and lost me soon after. I have nothing against baseball—not at all. I’m just not much of a sports enthusiast and, truthfully, get tired of the male-oriented metaphors. Brian’s very personal appeal followed by his very impersonal (and misaligned) form letter was a particularly lethal combo. Now, not only am I a “no” for the information session I was invited to, but I have an attitude about both Brian and his organization to boot. Three strikes, you’re out.

Story 2: An Approach to Emulate

A few weeks ago I was surprised by a knock at the door—an unexpected delivery of baked goods from a local sweet shop. The package included a hand-written note from Kacy, the office organizer I had hired exactly one year before. The sweets were to commemorate my first anniversary in my new home office, with a reminder that she was available should any lingering piles be in my way, and a request to tell others about her services if I was so inclined.

I immediately logged onto Facebook (well, by “immediately” I mean right after I had a cookie) and posted kudos for Kacy, along with a link to her web site. I sent her an email to thank her for the unexpected treat, alert her to the free Facebook advertising, and acknowledge her for the lesson in great marketing. She wrote me right back to thank me, saying, “I’m so glad you like them! I never know if someone’s going to be out of town or unavailable, but it always works out. In my client list, I have a column where I note the dates of our last sessions. Once a month or so I run through those and send the goodies out!”

The sweets hit the sweet spot, for sure, far more so than being hit over the head with a baseball bat. Maybe Kacy got lucky with her choice. Although it seems to me she could have sent me anything (even one of those giant foam fingers) and the good feelings from the unexpected personal acknowledgement would have prevailed.

A Plea to Marketers

The two anecdotes aren’t apples to apples—different relationship histories, different communication media, different calls to action. That said, I find them both illuminating.

To all marketers out there (including myself), here’s my plea:

• DO make it personal
• DON’T use a personal tactic to get someone’s attention and then switch to a more generic approach
• DO find creative ways to appreciate the people who have given you business in the past
• DO use the element of surprise
• DON’T be afraid to ask for more work or for referrals.

The moral of the stories: Intimacy is a powerful tool in business. Use it wisely, especially with strangers. Mix it in with a little unexpected generosity and you’ll hit a home run.

There’s an unexpected catalyst for transformational change out there that most companies haven’t considered tapping into. It’s not leadership from the top. It’s not buy-in from the bottom. It’s not a compelling vision. It’s not a mission statement that everyone can easily remember and recite. (Although all of these things matter). It’s humor.

Humor in Evidence

Research has proven that smiling and laughter are good for your health, make you more attractive to be around, and help boost your energy and rate of accomplishment. Just ask the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (known for their Laughter Therapy practice, Psychology Today (see The Benefits of Laughter, and Discovery Health’s How Things Work Series (How Laughter Works), –all of which have provided ample evidence. This is easy to envision and apply in a personal context: imagine parents smiling and laughing at their babies, or friends struck by a fit of giggles. But somehow when it comes to work, well … really now, are smiling and laughter endeavors we should promote? And could they, in fact, have bottom-line benefit?

Putting Humor to Work

“Work” and “serious” are a long-held associations, and work as a place of somber mood and serious tone is still very much in evidence in the corporate world today. (Thomas Edison once said: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”.) Plus economic recessions are no laughing matter, so the realities of our existence today don’t help us out of our mental box. And yet some organizations have found ways to embrace fun and levity as strategic assets in spite of, and even as a way out of, the gloom and doom. Think Southwest Airlines, where play is the rule, not the exception. In fact, Southwest is one of the few airlines to thrive in a post-9/11 world.

Improv-ing Business

So there’s a case to be made, in general, for humor in the workplace. But what about as it relates to transformational change, specifically? We say there’s a case to be made there too, and to make that case we turn to improvisational comedy.

Improvisational comedy is comedy made up completely on the spot (as in the popular TV show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?) Improv is a unique brand of humor that generates laughter as a result of a shared experience of risk-taking. Here are four key skills of improv. As you read them, consider their relationship to successful transformational change in the workplace:

• Being open to new ideas. Developing comfort with accepting ideas of others, building on them, and taking them to the next level.
• Listening. Being attentive, sensitive, tuned in.
• Being in the moment. Dealing masterfully with the unexpected. Demonstrating agility and flexibility.
• “Under-thinking.” Walt Disney said it best: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Consider a quote from the Organizational Development Practitioner’s article titled “Improv Culture: Using Practices from Improv Theater to Help Organizations Evolve Successfully Over Time,” (Vol. 35, No. 3, 2003 edition):

“Improvisers are masters of evolution: They balance strategy and spontaneity in the face of uncertainty, working collectively to create a sustained, engaging story that works. They often work without the benefit of specific planning, must incorporate unexpected inputs thrown in from left field, and have to adapt rapidly to new contexts.”

We’ll explore improv skills and how to apply them more in coming editions. In the meantime, trying on that humor is serious business and laughter is the best corporate medicine.