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The Levity Effect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up
The Levity Effect uses serious science to reveal the remarkable power of humor and fun in business. Science proves it?fun is good for business! Based on ten years of extensive research, the authors argue against business tradition to reveal the powerful bottom-line benefits of leading with levity. With interviews, exercises, and case studies, the book reveals how humor in the workplace will help you communicate messages, build camaraderie, and encourage creativity for a better workplace and bigger profits.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 7, 2019
"When leaders lighten up and create a fun workplace, there's a significant increase in the level of employee trust, creativity and communication. Leading to lower turnover, higher morale, and a stronger bottom line." (Adrian Gostick & Scott Christopher, The Levity Effect)
This book was about how to add levity to our workplaces. So what is "levity"? The authors define levity as, "lightness" to "lighten up." They say, "Leading with levity is about developing a lightness of manner. Levity is equated with having a sense of humour."
The authors give some practical advice on how to add humour and fun to the workplace. In fact, in the last chapters of the book, they give you some practical ways of adding fun to your work. Some I wrote down were:
● Have a "fun" line item in the budget;
● Have a joke of the day;
● Build a "Wall of Fame": Notes from clients, news clippings of employees' successes
● Have a "Happy Employee Award"
● Buy books for your team and have a book club
● Take employees out go-carting
● Create a fun committee and rotate membership
● Have a humour bulletin board: post jokes, humourous quotes, or pictures
● Bring in pizza for lunch
● Have a shoes optional day
● Sing "We Are The Champions" before a meeting...
They share primary and secondary research from many credible sources that prove how levity at work increases productivity, lowers turnover, increases employee engagement, builds morale...how you can work hard and have fun at the same time. That it doesn't have to be one or the other. In fact, if you have a little fun, your employees will be happier and more productive, and they probably will stay longer.
The authors are not talking about being hillarious, and that all the leaders have to be comedians and play practical jokes on one another. The main premise of this book is lighten up and have fun at work, and it will benefit your workplace greatly, and it may even increase the bottom line.
This book was about how to add levity to our workplaces. So what is "levity"? The authors define levity as, "lightness" to "lighten up." They say, "Leading with levity is about developing a lightness of manner. Levity is equated with having a sense of humour."
The authors give some practical advice on how to add humour and fun to the workplace. In fact, in the last chapters of the book, they give you some practical ways of adding fun to your work. Some I wrote down were:
● Have a "fun" line item in the budget;
● Have a joke of the day;
● Build a "Wall of Fame": Notes from clients, news clippings of employees' successes
● Have a "Happy Employee Award"
● Buy books for your team and have a book club
● Take employees out go-carting
● Create a fun committee and rotate membership
● Have a humour bulletin board: post jokes, humourous quotes, or pictures
● Bring in pizza for lunch
● Have a shoes optional day
● Sing "We Are The Champions" before a meeting...
They share primary and secondary research from many credible sources that prove how levity at work increases productivity, lowers turnover, increases employee engagement, builds morale...how you can work hard and have fun at the same time. That it doesn't have to be one or the other. In fact, if you have a little fun, your employees will be happier and more productive, and they probably will stay longer.
The authors are not talking about being hillarious, and that all the leaders have to be comedians and play practical jokes on one another. The main premise of this book is lighten up and have fun at work, and it will benefit your workplace greatly, and it may even increase the bottom line.
May 9, 2024
It's a good general overview of using levity in the workplace for everyone's benefit. I know many successful professionals that do this very naturally and it has really helped them in their professions. A great book to listen to. Probably one of the few where it works better if listened to.
March 8, 2011
Very interesting listen this was my first audio book. I found the underlying principal of the book obvious once it had been pointed out. As the head of a small team who work very hard and well together and who are very successful at what we do, I was surprised to discover just how important our humorous approach to almost everything could be. I don’t think there is another team in our organisation which works harder, set itself higher targets and continually strives to improve their service in the same way we do. This book has helped me understand just how important the humour in the office is. Rather than possibly worry about how we could appear at times unprofessional by the uninitiated. I am now confident a major part of our success and our close working relationship can be attributed to our liberal use of humour. I would recommend this book to everyone.
December 29, 2008
For a business book, this was great. It's all about the need for fun and humor in the workplace. It made me feel good, since we're already fostering that at the library where I work.
Both practical and light-hearted.
Both practical and light-hearted.
February 28, 2009
This was more like a 2.8, but I couldn't find it in me to round up. Basically, people who enjoy their jobs perform better. Fit that into your culture. Ok, I agree. If filled my time while my flight was delayed.
July 20, 2009
Reads like a Gladwell book. One basic idea pounded over and over again with examples and statistics. Humor in the writing seemed forced, like they had to make it funny because they were writing about levity.
September 25, 2009
Not that this matters, but the author is flamingly LDS. The wit was great and he offered lots of ideas to make work fun.
August 10, 2023
Here are some ideas to get the ball rolling: -Before the meeting, take a few minutes to watch some especially witty and clever TV ads or look at a few imaginative magazine ads to get minds in the right, creative frame.• Keep a stack of toys, puzzles, Nerf balls, balsa airplanes, Slinky toys, and Silly Putty in meeting rooms. To play with, of course, not just for adornment. • Cover the table with white paper and give everyone colored pencils or crayons to draw out the problem. • Let people dress casually and meet in a place with natural light.• Have candy and water available and buy lunch.• Take a quick break every hour to do something physical and fun—spin in your chairs a half dozen times; tell your worst clean joke; get up and dance as badly as possible; stand and recite the company mission statement using your best impressions; rhyme every phrase for a few minutes; play a round of charades, 20 questions, Pictionary, and so on. • After the project is over, get back together to celebrate. • Then, have another quick meeting with your team to simply agree that you’ll take the time to have fun again in other meetings and ask for their help in lightening up.
The study of humor and its effects even has a name, Gelotology, from the Greek word gelos (laughter). And the research shows that a good belly laugh has measurable benefits on the heart, blood sugar, stress levels, circulation, the immune system, and more.
High-humor individuals, according to his research, are better equipped to earn the trust of another individual, in part because humorous people tend to respond to stress in a different manner than others. It is a character trait we all take for granted and need science to make apparent: levity helps us handle difficult situations. It is the physical manifestation of perspective.
Thematically speaking, jokes are serious business. They spur social change. Throughout history, humor has led to a breakdown of prejudices and hatred. By their nature, jokes are considered funny because they point out commonly felt frustrations, the undeniable hypocrisies of politics, the ubiquitous absurdities of modern life and its ironies, and, most important, they poke holes in people who need a little deflation for their own good. They illuminate the details of our lives in ways that a long verbal diatribe can’t.
Think about the benefits of encouraging levity. First, employees show up for work. That’s good. But while at work, they feel higher levels of satisfaction and glee (yes, glee), which in turn ratchets up their focus and productivity. All because you’ve caught the vision of frequent and meaningful levity. The lighter the mood, the easier it is to free up the mind. Unleash creativity. Make discoveries. Contribute with impact.
We’d all be wise to memorize this simple statement: the Time-and-Place Rule is defined as the universally ignored law that dictates that before any workplace humor is executed, its bearer must determine, using reasonably sound judgment, if said humor is appropriate for both the physical setting and the space in time which it occupies.
The study of humor and its effects even has a name, Gelotology, from the Greek word gelos (laughter). And the research shows that a good belly laugh has measurable benefits on the heart, blood sugar, stress levels, circulation, the immune system, and more.
High-humor individuals, according to his research, are better equipped to earn the trust of another individual, in part because humorous people tend to respond to stress in a different manner than others. It is a character trait we all take for granted and need science to make apparent: levity helps us handle difficult situations. It is the physical manifestation of perspective.
Thematically speaking, jokes are serious business. They spur social change. Throughout history, humor has led to a breakdown of prejudices and hatred. By their nature, jokes are considered funny because they point out commonly felt frustrations, the undeniable hypocrisies of politics, the ubiquitous absurdities of modern life and its ironies, and, most important, they poke holes in people who need a little deflation for their own good. They illuminate the details of our lives in ways that a long verbal diatribe can’t.
Think about the benefits of encouraging levity. First, employees show up for work. That’s good. But while at work, they feel higher levels of satisfaction and glee (yes, glee), which in turn ratchets up their focus and productivity. All because you’ve caught the vision of frequent and meaningful levity. The lighter the mood, the easier it is to free up the mind. Unleash creativity. Make discoveries. Contribute with impact.
We’d all be wise to memorize this simple statement: the Time-and-Place Rule is defined as the universally ignored law that dictates that before any workplace humor is executed, its bearer must determine, using reasonably sound judgment, if said humor is appropriate for both the physical setting and the space in time which it occupies.
August 16, 2023
Good, but I was expecting more.
I heard about this book though Gretchen Rubin and was keen to learn more about the benefits of lightening up.
Towards the start of the book, the authors mention research which shows that laughter has a positive effect on vascular function, similar to exercise. I was intrigued. But rather than describing more scientific studies on laughter/levity (which I would have appreciated), the authors proceeded to present dozens of real-life examples from US industry supporting the idea that levity boosts productivity, communication and creativity. Although remote working is mentioned briefly, most of the examples are from the traditional, office-based workplace.
The use of levity at home, which I was most interested in, is mentioned towards the end of the book, but it felt like an afterthought.
I heard about this book though Gretchen Rubin and was keen to learn more about the benefits of lightening up.
Towards the start of the book, the authors mention research which shows that laughter has a positive effect on vascular function, similar to exercise. I was intrigued. But rather than describing more scientific studies on laughter/levity (which I would have appreciated), the authors proceeded to present dozens of real-life examples from US industry supporting the idea that levity boosts productivity, communication and creativity. Although remote working is mentioned briefly, most of the examples are from the traditional, office-based workplace.
The use of levity at home, which I was most interested in, is mentioned towards the end of the book, but it felt like an afterthought.
April 14, 2018
I enjoyed this book. At first I thought perhaps it could have been done in a 'white paper' but then he goes on to discuss examples and case studies of where humour was used. Not to mention chapter 7 (I think it is 7) has 142 (or so) examples of light things done in companies to help foster a great atmosphere.
I recommend this book.
I recommend this book.
April 18, 2023
Enjoyable read, ...
but I recall the first time flying with Southwest Airlines and being shocked as they started making jokes to passengers.. I don't really think taking everyones life in their hands and joking about it is the place for stupid humor.
Hahahah shall we take that tumor out of your brain...hahahha
but I recall the first time flying with Southwest Airlines and being shocked as they started making jokes to passengers.. I don't really think taking everyones life in their hands and joking about it is the place for stupid humor.
Hahahah shall we take that tumor out of your brain...hahahha
August 14, 2023
There's some good info in here, and though it's geared more towards company culture and senior leadership, there are still some good takeaways for whomever. It was nice and short, so that kept it easy. Lots of tips for public speaking and management in general. I appreciated the practical application aspects.
June 12, 2017
A light read
The idea of the topic is fun, but it us not really worth a whole book. I got the idea quickly, and the rest was redundant. Some of the jokes were funny, but the overall writing still is too verbose.
The idea of the topic is fun, but it us not really worth a whole book. I got the idea quickly, and the rest was redundant. Some of the jokes were funny, but the overall writing still is too verbose.
July 21, 2023
A fun book - but honestly it was probably 2x as long as it could have been. I liked the examples in the first half of the book, but it just rambled a bit in the second half. Still, any book that ends with “Lighten up Francis” is a winner!
July 19, 2018
A fun book written by an lds author. After listening to the audiobook, you can't help but have a lighter day with the staff. Lots of fun and interesting ideas but still respectful and professional.
February 12, 2019
Lighten up Francis.
April 11, 2019
"Un-clench your jaw. Un-knit your brow"
August 8, 2020
Definitely recommend listening rather than reading this one.
February 14, 2020
One longs for a work environment which instills aspiration rather than resignation. The authors here provide a blueprint for an organizational ethic to accomplish the former. Too seldom sincerely embraced in the corporate setting, the real value of a humane approach to management is ignored in the name of profits or base productivity.
Like all human endeavors, though, the business environment is best understood as an organic process. Endorsing people's strengths, allowing humor and natural emotions to lubricate the functioning of the necessary activities of work groups, will always provide the best results.
Managers, read this book. Peel the crust off of your old fashioned approaches and let your "direct reports" be people!
Like all human endeavors, though, the business environment is best understood as an organic process. Endorsing people's strengths, allowing humor and natural emotions to lubricate the functioning of the necessary activities of work groups, will always provide the best results.
Managers, read this book. Peel the crust off of your old fashioned approaches and let your "direct reports" be people!
March 4, 2013
A reasonable argument for levity in the workplace is offered however it seemed that there was a thin line between actual wit/lightheartedness and just plain acting goofy. I purchased this book after my doctoral committee chair worried that I would use too much humor when defending my qualification exams...but I couldn't help it ;) Lets just say I hope my leadership career turns out better.
The big problems about this book is example after example of people acting crazy in the workplace and little to offer in terms of insightful advice. Otherwise it is worth a read...but not study from nor ponder too deeply.
The big problems about this book is example after example of people acting crazy in the workplace and little to offer in terms of insightful advice. Otherwise it is worth a read...but not study from nor ponder too deeply.
June 19, 2009
This was another book I listened to on CD. It was directed to corporate
life, with case studies and research on some major corporations. It
does show that a "lighter" approach in the work environment leads to
greater production. I'm all for "fun" in every part of life, but there
was not enough application for this book to be all that helpful in my
non-corporate life.
life, with case studies and research on some major corporations. It
does show that a "lighter" approach in the work environment leads to
greater production. I'm all for "fun" in every part of life, but there
was not enough application for this book to be all that helpful in my
non-corporate life.
January 31, 2012
Good business book with suggestions on including levity in your leadership style. Good research and experiences shared on how levity improves employee satisfaction, employee retention, and customer satisfaction.
August 16, 2016
It is about how lightness effect on the organisational performance and tips to develop the levity with practical application.
I really like" chapter 4: Levity Effect - Respect: In You They Trust" because I didn't know that genuineness comes before the fun.
I really like" chapter 4: Levity Effect - Respect: In You They Trust" because I didn't know that genuineness comes before the fun.
May 29, 2008
Positivity Pays
November 20, 2008
Another book by my boss and coworker.
August 24, 2011
Offers backing for the idea that levity and lightening up in the workplace is good for everyone. Both research, and examples/suggestions are provided.
February 17, 2012
Loosin' up bitches!
June 2, 2012
Pretty much what I try to do at work everyday, but nice to see it in words :) boo yah!
March 30, 2013
A should-read book on change management for knowledge workers, managers, executives, and entrepreneurs.
July 1, 2015
Anyone who supervises even one person should read this book. Like I always say, If you're not having fun ~ you're doing it wrong.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews