As an engineer, I am obsessed with efficiency. Even my name is efficient: My full name is Andrew, but I go by Drew because it’s only one syllable. But through my work with organizations around the globe, I’ve learned that you can’t be efficient with humans because they have “emotions” and “feelings” and get “sick” and “tired” and have to “eat” and “sleep.” Instead, you have to be effective.
One of the best ways to be more effective is through using humor. Here are four ways using humor at work can boost human effectiveness.