# Sarcasm, Self-Deprecation, and Inside Jokes: A User’s Guide to Humor at Work

Source: https://hbr.org/2020/07/sarcasm-self-deprecation-and-inside-jokes-a-users-guide-to-humor-at-work
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Sarcasm-Self-Deprecation-and-Inside-Jokes-A-Users-Guide-to-Humor-at-Work?index=0x64e5f01beb2f55e72a296b4c65720b7dd5d4160afce98f9f89806a9e6279995f51e9eb17
Submitted by rafig.eth on 2023-08-23 UTC, 1 upvote, 0 comments

## Summary

Humor is widely seen as essential in personal relationships but as an ancillary behavior for leaders, though many leaders could use it purposefully rather than only instinctively. In a research study, researchers asked participants in small groups to create an ad campaign for VisitSwitzerland.ch, a made-up travel service, using a photo of a Swiss lake, mountain and flag. Participants were given three minutes to come up with a memorable answer to "What made you fall in love with Switzerland?" before sharing their ideas with their groups.

## Article

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Some leaders use humor instinctively; many more could wield it purposefully.

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Humor is widely considered essential in personal relationships, but in leaders, it’s seen as an ancillary behavior. Though some leaders use humor instinctively, many more could wield it

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A few years ago, we conducted a research study in which we asked people to help us create an ad campaign for a travel service called VisitSwitzerland.ch (which we’d made up). We put the participants into small groups and showed them a photo—a Swiss landscape of a lake, a mountain, and the country’s distinctive flag with its white plus sign against a red background—accompanied by the question: “What made you fall in love with Switzerland?” We gave participants three minutes to come up with a memorable answer and then had them share their ideas with their groups.

A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2020 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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