Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And how anyone can harness it. Even you.)
- Downloads：6514
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-02-06 04:17:47
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Jennifer Aaker
- ISBN：9780593135280
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Editor Reviews
A smart， funny， brilliant book on how to be smart about being funny， brilliantly。 And I’m not just saying that because they say I am smart， funny， and brilliant in it。 Buy it。”—Sarah Cooper， comedian and author of 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings
“I’ve learned （often the hard way） that the best way to be taken seriously is to not take yourself too seriously。 My teams are always at their best when approaching problems with levity， which entails both humility and optimism and always engenders trust。 Plus， it’s more fun—like this book！”—Eric Schmidt， former CEO and executive chair of Google （Alphabet）
“Humor is an act of social courage that， when used correctly， has a transformative effect。 Humor， Seriously gives us the tools we need to deploy humor expertly in any environment。”—Susan Cain， #1 New York Times bestselling author of Quiet
“If you think your workplace would work better if everyone laughed more， this is your playbook。”—Chip Heath， #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Moments
“Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas make a scientific case for the importance of humor and show that it’s an incredible way to connect with customers and build culture。 This book will help anyone embrace the power of laughter。”—Sara Blakley， founder and CEO of Spanx
“A sharp， incisive， and genuinely funny read that translates knowledge of the world of comedy to tools that actually work in the world of business。”—Anne Libera， director of comedy studies at The Second City
“Business is serious and the world is serious， especially right now。 That means we need the ideas described in Humor， Seriously even more than ever。 Not because levity and humor are ways to relieve the pressure of serious times， although they are， but because they unlock our humanity in the moments where we most need it。”—Tim Brown， chair of IDEO and author of Change by Design
“Eye-opening， hilarious， and absolutely original， Humor， Seriously will change the way you think on the job， about the world， and in your life。”—Leslie Blodgett， founder and former CEO of Bare Escentuals
“Fresh， profound， and consistently entertaining。 I know the words ‘evidence-based’ don’t immediately connote riotous laughter， but Aaker and Bagdonas bring some irresistibly compelling science to the art and application of humor。”—Kelly Leonard， executive vice president of The Second City
“Of all the known ways to ruin humor， the most common start with the words ‘research，’ ‘analyze，’ and ‘professor。’ The bad news is that this book features all of those words。 Prominently。 The good news is that against all odds， you’ll actually have fun reading it。”—Adam Grant， New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take， and host of the TED podcast WorkLife
“In this eye-opening， important and utterly enjoyable book， Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas use science to explain how humor at work （and in life） helps alleviate stress， anxiety， and burnout。 Come for the humor， stay for the insights。”—Arianna Huffington， co-founder of The Huffington Post and CEO of Thrive Global
Reviews
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Amy
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Part of the book is very good。 The value of humor， examples of humor in the workplace。 I got a lot less out of the how to part。 This part either needed to be expanded greatly or left to other books。
Amber
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It’s probably not a surprise that this book is witty。 （Especially the charts and graphics and footnotes。） What may be more surprising is how much this book makes you rethink your email sign offs， or the little comments you leave in a Zoom chat。 Can I use these to create more levity？ If I do， will that make a difference at work？ As I think through the colleagues I most enjoy， they are the people it’s possible to be lightly funny with。 This book made me aware of that， and made me want to be that k It’s probably not a surprise that this book is witty。 （Especially the charts and graphics and footnotes。） What may be more surprising is how much this book makes you rethink your email sign offs， or the little comments you leave in a Zoom chat。 Can I use these to create more levity？ If I do， will that make a difference at work？ As I think through the colleagues I most enjoy， they are the people it’s possible to be lightly funny with。 This book made me aware of that， and made me want to be that kind of colleague。 。。。more
Clifton
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Just as "Drive" gives readers a light and informative look at the research behind intrinsic movivation， "Humor， Seriously" gives readers a light and informative look at the research behind humor。 The authors are smart enough to keep the book short， practical， and filled with stories。 As someone who's spent LOTS of time thinking about workplace culture， I appreciated the insights into the role laughter can play in everything from building trust to thinking creatively （and the practice of making t Just as "Drive" gives readers a light and informative look at the research behind intrinsic movivation， "Humor， Seriously" gives readers a light and informative look at the research behind humor。 The authors are smart enough to keep the book short， practical， and filled with stories。 As someone who's spent LOTS of time thinking about workplace culture， I appreciated the insights into the role laughter can play in everything from building trust to thinking creatively （and the practice of making that happen）。 While the research was not exactly surprising， the book read quickly and told some fun/useful stories。 Hard to go wrong with that。PS - Much like me， this book tries a *bit* hard to be funny。 If the humorous footnotes don't work for you， take a page from how colleagues deal with my constant attempts at levity during Zoom meetings: politely smile and turn the page。 。。。more
Claire
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Really enjoyed the science behind laughter。。。 some great examples of using laughter in the work place， and what happens when you use it badly。。。 and what you should do。 Authenticity was a key word。。。 and so true。。。
Jason Wrench
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I want to first thank the author and publisher for the opportunity to read Humor， Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life （and How Anyone Can Harness It。 Even You。） by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas before its publication。 Even though I am thankful for their kindness， I did not let it influence my evaluation of this book。Let me start by saying that I've been studying humor since the late 1990s。 I've authored and co-authored a number of academic studies and chapters on th I want to first thank the author and publisher for the opportunity to read Humor， Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life （and How Anyone Can Harness It。 Even You。） by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas before its publication。 Even though I am thankful for their kindness， I did not let it influence my evaluation of this book。Let me start by saying that I've been studying humor since the late 1990s。 I've authored and co-authored a number of academic studies and chapters on this subject， so this is an area of great interest and specialty of mine， which was why I was interested in this book。If you're looking for a well-researched book on the subject， this is not that book。 There are better academic texts on the subject of humor in the workplace and in your life with more up-to-date references。 After reading this book， I would argue this book is meant for laypeople who have no background in the study of humor and are interested in its positive benefits in their personal and professional lives。 The book is only 7 （and a half） chapters long， so it's not designed to be overly taxing on readers。 One thing I really did like about the book was the numerous examples pulled from a wide range of sources。 Some of the examples I'd seen and many I hadn't， so it was fun to see how the authors were able to incorporate these within the book。 Overall， as someone who studies humor， I definitely think this book is worth reading for any lay-reader。 If you just want to understand how humor works or how you can use humor in your own life to succeed， I would recommend this book。 。。。more
Aayushi Gupta
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When I read the blurb of this book， I was immediately interested in reading it。 Humor in workplace （and in life） is such an important but rarely talked about topic。 While numerous career and workplace related books talk about communication， storytelling and negotiation， hardly anyone talks about wielding this amazingly powerful but a tad bit risky tool。 What’s more interesting is the fact that this book has been written by professors at one of the best business schools in the world， where it is When I read the blurb of this book， I was immediately interested in reading it。 Humor in workplace （and in life） is such an important but rarely talked about topic。 While numerous career and workplace related books talk about communication， storytelling and negotiation， hardly anyone talks about wielding this amazingly powerful but a tad bit risky tool。 What’s more interesting is the fact that this book has been written by professors at one of the best business schools in the world， where it is taught as a very popular course。 Having been a business student myself， I was extremely excited about reading this book！Humor， Seriously is a short， powerful and immensely entertaining read – yes， the authors have definitely got an amazing sense of humor themselves。 In just 272 pages， the authors Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas give a complete and detailed insight into the importance of humor in workplace， the common misconceptions related to it， how to identify your own humor style and employ it tactfully， and how to avoid and recover from humor fails。 And when they say humor， they do not mean cracking jokes that send your colleagues rolling on the floor laughing。 Rather， this book focusses on identifying and encouraging fun and light-heartedness in formal communication as a means of forming better relationships and relieving stress。Like many other people， I had my reservations about reading a book dealing with humor – I am not a witty or a funny person， am I supposed to crack jokes at workplace to be more likeable now？ This book deal marvelously with the “nature vs。 nurture” debate when it comes to having a sense of humor。 It also talks about how our personal style of humor varies significantly with the kind of company we are in （as it should） and our position， and how each and everyone of us can contribute in their own way in finding joy in our everyday lives。The authors have taken lessons from multiple stand up comedians to understand how to infuse humor in everyday situations， while taking care not to commit a humor faux-pas。 The varied real-life examples contained in this book sufficiently explain how to handle humor tactfully， without being insensitive or rude， and how to gracefully handle any errors。I especially loved the overall writing and presentation style – the gorgeous blue cover， the hilarious footnotes and the quirky freehand graphs and Venn diagrams！ I flew through the book and enjoyed it thoroughly – as I am sure most of you will。 。。。more
nadiaizzaty
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Q: “ When was the last time you really laughed？ “ - （ pg 21 ）。A: When I read this question ， I keep on thinking when was I 💯 laughed really hard and it turned up none 。 😅•Even this book have “humour “ on it title please don’t expect you will be laughing all the way while reading it 。 😂 。 But， surprisingly， I really enjoyed reading this gem 📖。 Maybe because lots of the points or chapter relatable mostly with my working environment 。 😁 。 Oh， I like the writing style which is easy to understand。•In Q: “ When was the last time you really laughed？ “ - （ pg 21 ）。A: When I read this question ， I keep on thinking when was I 💯 laughed really hard and it turned up none 。 😅•Even this book have “humour “ on it title please don’t expect you will be laughing all the way while reading it 。 😂 。 But， surprisingly， I really enjoyed reading this gem 📖。 Maybe because lots of the points or chapter relatable mostly with my working environment 。 😁 。 Oh， I like the writing style which is easy to understand。•Indeed ， in our life ， we really need at least a little bit of humour to avoid anxiety， stressful ， boring and dull situation。 But， “ 。。。 we shouldn’t go funny all the time - that would be exhausting “ （ pg 25 ） 👍🏻•The book talks about how humour :* Can effect our health。* Can effect the tenderness between leader and staff。* Can create “ fun at work” environment 。* Can improve performance。* Make us think out of the box or be more creative。* Can make any discussion， training ， video more interesting 。Automatically， the points or information on that particular topics make people remember easily。* Make any introduction or goodbye more lasting with positive impressions。 * Can break the uneasiness。There’s also some information that been discussed in the book such as the humour style ， benefit of laughter in workplace， the myth of humour， the archetypes （ which means type of employees who create a humour culture ） ， when to use humour without cross the line and more。•I strongly recommend this book to those who want to know in details about humour and levity ， who want to implement humour in the organisation/ business and leaders who wish to create a fun at work environment 。 I wish I could write much longer but there’s not enough space 。 😭•Love this quote : “ A culture that balances serious work with levity and play can actually improve team performance 。 “ 👍🏻 #canIworkwithGoogleteam？ 🤭 Rating : 4/5 star ⭐️ •Thank you @putrifariza & @times。reads for providing me this review copy。 😍P/s : swipe next for the book snippets。 #nadianiabookreview #nonfictionbooks 。。。more
Siqahiqa
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"Of course， we shouldn't go for funny all the time。" Not everyone is funny in the same way。" Am I a funny person？ I believe I'm not 🙈 I'm a serious person and become more serious while working or occupied with some tasks。 This book is not about telling jokes or even be funny。 In fact， this book is not funny， seriously。 It is all about why humour is so powerful and how we can use more of it， delivering funny moments at work despite all the seriousness。 One of the authors， Aaker， realized that hum "Of course， we shouldn't go for funny all the time。" Not everyone is funny in the same way。" Am I a funny person？ I believe I'm not 🙈 I'm a serious person and become more serious while working or occupied with some tasks。 This book is not about telling jokes or even be funny。 In fact， this book is not funny， seriously。 It is all about why humour is so powerful and how we can use more of it， delivering funny moments at work despite all the seriousness。 One of the authors， Aaker， realized that humour could drive people in a way she never imagined。 That’s why she started to study humor and interviewed many people， including comedians。 This book is very informative and made me realized that there are many things to learn about humour。 Some of the interesting facts are the four humour styles and four common misperceptions or humour myths。 Two humour myths that I faced are the failure myth （fear for our humour will fail） and the being funny myth （to use humour， you have to ”be funny”）。 This book also teaches that sometimes， be true to someone is also one of the ways to be funny。 The writing style is direct， but I didn’t quite understand the whole concept。 Sorry to say that this book did not work well for me。 But two chapters that I liked the most are chapter 4 （Putting Your Funny to Work） and chapter 7。5 （Why Humour is a Secret Weapon in Life）。 Nevertheless， this book is useful to spark self-awareness about humour in our life and work。 Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know in-depth about humour and for you who work with people， especially if you are at a higher level in the organization。Leaders can use levity amid serious issues at the workplace so that your people would not scare to talk anything to you。 One quote that I liked from this book; "My job as a leader isn't to prevent mistakes from happening; my job as a leader is to correct them as quickly as possible when they do happen。 However， if nobody feels comfortable bringing me the bad news - it's going to take me a lot longer to correct mistakes。" All leaders should have this kind of thought 👍🏻。 Rating: 3/5 ⭐️Thank you， Times Read， for providing me with the review copy ✨instagram。com/siriusiqa 。。。more
Bakertyl
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