Sense of Humor! Or Senseless Humor !!

In December of last year, we had a "Chinthan Baithak" at our offices. That's Hindi for "Thinking Sit-Down", a session of Introspection. This was a session where the senior management identified positive and negative traits in themselves and each other with the idea that introspection and feedback would help us improve not only internally but largely benefit the organization. It worked wonders.

Its absolutely true that we, or at least and definitely I was missing the obvious. Obvious to everybody, but for me. 2 of the interesting things that came out were my sense of dressing and my sense of humor.

The fact that I was not particular about clothes and did not have a great dressing sense, I was aware of. Reia as a child had once told me, "If there were a Fashion Police, you'd be in jail." What I did not realize was that it made a difference. To how I was perceived. And so last week I engaged the Fashionista to give me a makeover.

The sense of humor bit was a shock. I always thought I had a great sense of humor. Freia is the one who gets a lot of compliments about her sense of humor. And I thought she had got it from me. Interestingly a few months ago, she credited me for it. And I was basking in my glory. Till the Chinthan Baithak burst my inflated humor.

Naturally, the person I reached out for help was Freia. Earlier today as we drove to Philly, Freia gave me a course on having and handling a sense of humor. And once again, while a lot of tips seem to be obvious, they clearly weren't. At least not to me.

Here are the 5 main things I learned from Freia.

1. A joke is about the listener.
A joke is not about the teller. But the listener. It's important to keep in mind who the listener is. And what she or he finds funny.

2. What's funny to you, may not be funny to someone else.
All of us find different things funny. And what's funny to me, may not be funny to someone else.

3. Context matters.
The situation and interaction matters. The listener having the context of the situation that the joke is set in determines whether the joke is understood.

4. Many don't have a sense of humor
While most people love having fun. many don't have a sense of humor. A sense of humor like most things is a developed taste and is not common.

5. When you're not sure, don't joke.
The upside of a joke, especially in a work situation is limited. The downside is unlimited. You're better off not joking. Unless you're sure. Of the audience. And the joke.

I'll know at the end of the year, during our next "Chintan Baithak", whether enrolling my kids to help me has worked.