If You Don’t Laugh, You Cry: Have a Sense of Humor

Many people probably don’t know that I did a very short stint as a management consultant at a firm called IMPAC in Taiwan, doing operational turnarounds. I only lasted about 4 months. The money was great but the travel and hours were grueling, and actually pretty boring. I think I was doing 110 hour work weeks and going on a few hours of sleep every night. 

I remember it was month 3 at a potato chip plant and I was working with a Dutch and a Malaysian consultant. It was a Thursday night. We were exhausted, having spent the whole day at the plant and it was 3 am while we were doing the analysis and spreadsheets to present to management and board in the morning. The computer was not working, the slides were awful and we were terribly stressed. 

My Dutch friend goes back to the computer to start reworking the sheet and starts to say “we’re just saving lives, we’re just saving lives doing this.” Something so ridiculous that we all started laughing. For those who don’t get this, we were up late literally working on optimizing a potato chip company to be slightly more efficient, which is far from saving lives. But it broke the tension. We were able to figure it out and bonded at the same time. 

I learned the power of having a sense of humor, even if it was a bit grim. It helps make tough situations bearable. In war and on the battlefield, they call it “Gallows Humor”: defined as “grim and ironic humor in a desperate or hopeless situation”. Laughing actually reduces and relieves stress. So learn to laugh at hard situations. 

I also believe the reason having a sense of humor is important is that it keeps you grounded. As a Silicon Valley denizen, I loved the HBO show “Silicon Valley” because it called out all the ludicrous and stupid things that happen here in the tech world. The pontificating, self righteousness and arrogance that exists in the SF Bay Area is amazing and appalling at the same time. I know many successful people here who did not appreciate the show because it burst the bubble of their delusions of greatness.

Nothing worse than someone who truly believes their own Bull-S–t. It’s important to be able to laugh at yourself in whatever situation you find yourself in. 

When times are bad, it changes your mood and helps you get going again. When times are good, it’s helpful to disarm others. Learn to laugh at yourself and don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s a good tool to control your ego and prevent you from sabotaging yourself. :)