Discussion: View Thread

> -----Original Message-----
> On Behalf Of Facilitated Solutions
>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 1999 10:32 AM
> To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> Subject: Re: Academic Rigor and the Use of Humor
>
>
> At 05:32 pm 19/04/99 Charles wrote:
> >Actually that might really be fun. It would be like one of the genetics
> >papers with 800 co-authors. The paper could be an appendix to the title
> >paper maybe. But what to write on? Certainly the doings here are
> >interesting. I mean with people posting from New York to Zimbabwe to Sydney
> >to Nepal to Finland to Peru. Yikes. We are a virtual community but--what's
> >that Japanese film where everyone has a different angle on the crime?--could
> >we all get it together. Would it be in hypertext? We have the archives of
> >everything on list. Gadzooks! But you were kidding.
>
> No I wasn't kidding.

Every bit of reading I have done in the past few years on the creativity and the
development of teams almost mandates a requirement for a shared sense of humor
and fun. During my graduate classes in management, marketing and org. change
and development, not once was this common requirement in management mentioned.

Perhaps because "business schools" are a humorless lot with an attitude that
business is serious business.

Although it seems that there is not a gap in the literature to support the
inclusion of a chapter in text books, I wonder what number of professors in the
nation's B-Schools would get up the nerve to select a text book with a chapter
devoted to the use of humor in business management? Are there any texts with
humor chapters? I suspect that the B-School professors themselves are fearful
of peer pressure, collegial ridicule, failure to make tenure or even lose
tenured status for considering the notion.

However, if humor is a necessary condition for either creativity and teams,
maybe the B-School deans could farm this subject out to the liberal arts
schools. Hummmm, I wonder if students would have a tough time making attendance
to a required class in humor theory?


ICQ #26317826
__________________________________
Great Optimism,

Dutch Driver
Abilene, TX 79605
mailto:Choragus@email.com
Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus

Dutch,

In defense of B-schools, as humorless as we may be, my experience with "those
guys over in Liberal arts" is that they are even more humorless. Maybe they
are just humorless because they don't make the same salaries.

Mine is a small state school which does tend to take itself too seriously.
However, I do have tenure, will be teaching OB to MBA's this summer, and would
love to include a discussion of humor in the class. I don't think there is a
mainline text that includes anything on the use of humor to improve motivation/
morale/etc. I hope someone on the list will prove me wrong.

William.Sharbrough@citadel.edu

>> -----Original Message-----
>> On Behalf Of Facilitated Solutions
>>
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 1999 10:32 AM
>> To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
>> Subject: Re: Academic Rigor and the Use of Humor
>>
>>
>> At 05:32 pm 19/04/99 Charles wrote:
>> >Actually that might really be fun. It would be like one of the genetics
>> >papers with 800 co-authors. The paper could be an appendix to the title
>> >paper maybe. But what to write on? Certainly the doings here are
>> >interesting. I mean with people posting from New York to Zimbabwe to Sydney
>> >to Nepal to Finland to Peru. Yikes. We are a virtual community but--what's
>> >that Japanese film where everyone has a different angle on the crime?--could
>> >we all get it together. Would it be in hypertext? We have the archives of
>> >everything on list. Gadzooks! But you were kidding.
>>
>> No I wasn't kidding.

>Every bit of reading I have done in the past few years on the creativity and the
>development of teams almost mandates a requirement for a shared sense of humor
>and fun. During my graduate classes in management, marketing and org. change
>and development, not once was this common requirement in management mentioned.

>Perhaps because "business schools" are a humorless lot with an attitude that
>business is serious business.

>Although it seems that there is not a gap in the literature to support the
>inclusion of a chapter in text books, I wonder what number of professors in the
>nation's B-Schools would get up the nerve to select a text book with a chapter
>devoted to the use of humor in business management? Are there any texts with
>humor chapters? I suspect that the B-School professors themselves are fearful
>of peer pressure, collegial ridicule, failure to make tenure or even lose
>tenured status for considering the notion.

>However, if humor is a necessary condition for either creativity and teams,
>maybe the B-School deans could farm this subject out to the liberal arts
>schools. Hummmm, I wonder if students would have a tough time making attendance
>to a required class in humor theory?


>ICQ #26317826
>__________________________________
>Great Optimism,

>Dutch Driver
>Abilene, TX 79605
>mailto:Choragus@email.com
>Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William C. Sharbrough, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Business Administration
The Citadel
171 Moultrie Street
Charleston, SC 29409

Office (843) 953-5164 FAX (843) 953-6764 or Home (843) 763-8512
E-Mail: SHARBROUGHW@CITADEL.EDU

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At 09:37 PM 4/21/1999 -0400, you wrote:
>
>In defense of B-schools, as humorless as we may be, my experience with "those
>guys over in Liberal arts" is that they are even more humorless. Maybe they
>are just humorless because they don't make the same salaries.

I think the biggest problem with humor is that it is grounded in
perception. What I find humorous, others may not. If not careful, one can
get into trouble if humor goes to far and becomes offensive to someone. In
addition, if used too often humor may be seen by students as an indicator
that the faculty member is not serious about education or not serious about
student concerns. To avoid these types of problems, I think that most
educators tend to tone down humor.

I like humor and I like to use humor to make group discussions feel more
comfortable, but I've learned that I can often go too far and that not
everyone can do a good job of using humor. It can often backfire.


Mitchell Adrian
Assistant Professor of Management
Longwood College
201 High St.
Farmville, VA 23901
(804) 395-2832
(804) 395-2203 - Fax
http://web.lwc.edu/staff/madrian/adrhome.htm


Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Management Education and Development Discussion
> On Behalf Of Mitchell Adrian

> I think the biggest problem with humor is that it is grounded in
> perception. What I find humorous, others may not. If not careful, one can
> get into trouble if humor goes to far and becomes offensive to someone. In
> addition, if used too often humor may be seen by students as an indicator
> that the faculty member is not serious about education or not serious about
> student concerns. To avoid these types of problems, I think that most
> educators tend to tone down humor.
>
> I like humor and I like to use humor to make group discussions feel more
> comfortable, but I've learned that I can often go too far and that not
> everyone can do a good job of using humor. It can often backfire.
Humor in a classroom is one of the largest risks you can take because there is
an expected payoff (snicker, guffaw, groan, or chuckle). When the payoff does
not occur, there is immediate feedback on the source's adaptation of message
(product) to a segmented and targeted market (audience).

I am deeply concerned that academia is fostering unrealistic student
expectations for perfectionism with these kinds of norms. Still, I believe it
is more peer pressure to personal prestige on the part of colleagues as the
largest inhibitor to learning to use humor in business.

I made plenty of errors while in front of the classroom----because I took risks
with the material or the format or the examples or the use of video or....

Perhaps more tolerance would be allowed when students experienced and realized
that art has an equal role with skill in humor--just as it does in business.

ICQ #26317826
__________________________________
Great Optimism,

Dutch Driver
Abilene, TX 79605
mailto:Choragus@email.com
Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus

A word of caution - humour is culture- bound and should be used with great
sensitivity in a multicultural / international student environment. Alienation,
loss of face, embarrassment or total bewilderment can result if well-tested humour
with homogeneous groups is transposed without thinking into an international
environment. Cross-cultural sensitivity is proposed rather than a humourless
learning environment.

RH


Dutch Driver wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Management Education and Development Discussion
> > On Behalf Of Mitchell Adrian
>
> > I think the biggest problem with humor is that it is grounded in
> > perception. What I find humorous, others may not. If not careful, one can
> > get into trouble if humor goes to far and becomes offensive to someone. In
> > addition, if used too often humor may be seen by students as an indicator
> > that the faculty member is not serious about education or not serious about
> > student concerns. To avoid these types of problems, I think that most
> > educators tend to tone down humor.
> >
> > I like humor and I like to use humor to make group discussions feel more
> > comfortable, but I've learned that I can often go too far and that not
> > everyone can do a good job of using humor. It can often backfire.
> Humor in a classroom is one of the largest risks you can take because there is
> an expected payoff (snicker, guffaw, groan, or chuckle). When the payoff does
> not occur, there is immediate feedback on the source's adaptation of message
> (product) to a segmented and targeted market (audience).
>
> I am deeply concerned that academia is fostering unrealistic student
> expectations for perfectionism with these kinds of norms. Still, I believe it
> is more peer pressure to personal prestige on the part of colleagues as the
> largest inhibitor to learning to use humor in business.
>
> I made plenty of errors while in front of the classroom----because I took risks
> with the material or the format or the examples or the use of video or....
>
> Perhaps more tolerance would be allowed when students experienced and realized
> that art has an equal role with skill in humor--just as it does in business.
>
> ICQ #26317826
> __________________________________
> Great Optimism,
>
> Dutch Driver
> Abilene, TX 79605
> mailto:Choragus@email.com
> Home Page: http://home.att.net/~Choragus