Over on LinkedIn, a young scientist posted this morning that he'd just been hired as an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Johns Hopkins University. It brought back vivid memories for me as a keynote speaker.
I've given over 1,200 talks in my role as a public philosopher and one of the most totally delightful events of all was an endowed lectureship, the Meridian Lecture, to an auditorium full of all the cosmologists, planetary scientists, and Hubble space telescope people at Hopkins. Great people, really fun, and super smart.
I like to spice my wisdom talks about success, uncertainty, change, or leadership with funny stories and other unexpected forms of humor. I've cracked up the leadership teams at Ford, GM, Merrill Lynch, International Paper, Hewlett Packard, and at so many companies. But the Hopkins scientists laughed louder at all my jokes than maybe any other group ever. Some of the guys were falling out of their chairs, bright red faces, holding their stomachs in convulsed merriment, unable to breathe. It was like a spacewalk of philosophical humor where the oxygen supply gets kinked. I thought we were going to have to call 911. Super brainy folks who could not find the men's room in their own building, or the door to the auditorium. It was like being in a Monty Python skit. But they can find a way to the stars. And spot the punchlines in any of my jokes from light years away. God bless the scientists of Johns Hopkins. You all set me up beautifully to tell my wife, "Well THEY thought I was funny!"
My point, and I usually have one—unless it’s lost in space—is that well used humor can be a very effective communication device. But like anything else, it must be used carefully and well. Done badly, it can be offensive, insensitive, demeaning, or just awkward. Deployed skillfully, it can be disarming, unifying, and uplifting. Self deprecating humor tends to work well, and it’s especially easy when you’ve made the career choice as I have to be a philosopher, with all the earning potential typically attached to that role in our time. As a professor, I tried to get my students to laugh because I wanted them to learn and remember. And forty years later, many of them still remember “that time in class when” I did something very funny, silly, or semi crazy to make a point. So consider using this powerful tool. It can ease tension and work magnificently, when it’s done well. Seriously.
