Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Adrian Gostick is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Invisible Employee and The Carrot Principle, as well as the BusinessWeek bestseller A Carrot a Day, The Integrity Advantage, and The 24-Carrot Manager.

Scott Christopher is an author, speaker, and regular columnist for Workplace HR magazine. He is the author of the book Lighten Up, as well as a film and television actor.

Adrian Gostick ist Autor von verschiedenen sehr erfolgreichen Büchern; inklusive dem New York Times Bestseller Der unsichtbare Mitarbeiter und The Carrot Principle. Er ist auch der Autor der Wall Street Journal und Business Week Bestseller A Carrot Day, The Integrity Advantage und The 24-Carrot Manager, das von Larry King (CNN) als ein "Muss für moderne Manager" gelobt wurde. Seine Bücher wurden in 15 Sprachen übersetzt und werden in mehr als 50 Ländern weltweit verkauft.
Scott Christopher ist Autor, Dozent und selbsterklärter Außenseiter in der Unternehmenswelt - nachdem er viele Jahre in der Traumwelt von Fernsehen und Film gearbeitet hat. Nachdem er in die normale Arbeitswelt zurückgekehrt ist, entdeckte er, dass es einen riesigen Unterschied gibt zwischen den Menschen, die sich Erfolg wünschen und denen, die etwas erreichen. Er entdeckte, dass die Kluft mit Leichtigkeit überbrückt werden kann. Scotts Enthusiasmus, seine Energie und sein einnehmender Humor ermöglichen unvergessliche Reden und Seminare, die Leute bewegen und zum Lachen bringen.

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Praise for The Levity Effect

"What may be the most valuable business book of the year...The Levity Effect can change the way you look at corporate culture."
―Joe Calloway, author of Work Like You're Showing Off!

"Gostick and Christopher entertain us with humorous anecdotes and educate us with research, evidence, real-life examples, and practical applications."
―Jim Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge

"I absolutely loved this book. Levity is common sense that is uncommonly practiced."
―Stephan Mardyks, President, International, Franklin Covey

"The message of The Levity Effect is much needed. The skills for using levity appropriately, and the benefits of doing so, are clearly explained in this enjoyable book."
―Mark Sanborn, author of The Fred Factor

"A book that proves the theory that you can work hard, reach impressive goals, and still have fun doing it. And told in a way that grabs you from page one."
―Eric J. Lange, Senior Vice President, The Nielsen Company

"Wow! The funniest, most original business book in ages. With persuasive research and case studies from the least likely businesses."
―Chester Elton, coauthor of The Invisible Employee

Aus dem Klappentext

If you think work is no laughing matter, the joke's on you. The Levity Effect uses serious science to reveal the remarkable power of fun and humor in building a productive, engaged, and loyal workforce...and a more successful you.

If you doubt levity is good for business, consider this: lighthearted leaders earn more on average than their more dour peers; entertaining workplaces breed more loyal employees and happier customers; and employees who are considered humorous are vastly more likely to get promoted especially to senior positions.

The benefits of the levity effect are built on extensive research and case studies from some of the world's most successful organizations. Bestselling author Adrian Gostick and humorist Scott Christopher provide powerful examples of leaders from Boeing, Nike, KPMG, Yamaha, Enterprise, Zappos, and dozens of others, all of which prove that lightening up leads to real business results.

The Levity Effect also presents extensive research into the subject including compelling data from the Great Place to Work® Institute's one million-member database that cuts against the grain of traditional business thinking to reveal that great companies consistently earn significantly higher marks for fun.

The Levity Effect is for anyone who wants to build an engaging, productive work culture and a more successful career. With interviews, extensive research, and lighthearted insight, The Levity Effect turns traditional business thinking on its head to prove again and again that a fun and engaging workplace leads to better business, more focused employees, and satisfied customers.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

The Levity Effect

Why it Pays to Lighten UpBy Adrian Gostick Scott Christopher

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2008 Adrian Gostick
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-19588-8

Chapter One

Levity Is a Funny Thing

If They're Busting a Gut, They'll Bust Their Butts

Two guys walk into a bar ...

Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't start a serious business management book with a line like that. That flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Harrumph, grumble, grumble.

Well, you can relax. This is no joke.

Two guys walk into a bar. They're both leaders at the same company. One has a big, infectious smile and is laughing as he opens the door. The guy at his side hasn't actually cracked a smile since Laugh-In. Quick test of your judgment skills: Which one's better at his job?

You're going to need a little more info, right? Nope. It's a simple call, and current research backs it up: The guy who's laughing and enjoying himself is better. He's considerably more likely to be more productive, inspiring, engaging, committed, efficient, secure, and trusted-overall a better leader.

Likeable sure, but why is he better?

For one thing, look at it from the point of view of the people who work with him or for him. How would you rather spend your days? Working with a buttoned-down stiff whose idea of fun at work is rolling up his sleeves or for someone who allows you to let loose every now and then-like the employees at Lego America who zip around campus on scooters, or at Principal Financial Group where employees have set up mini golf courses in their offices, or at Google with its annual employee ski trip, or at Ben & Jerry's where factory workers take home a couple of pints of ice cream a week, or at Sports Illustrated where employees creating the "Swimsuit Edition" ... well, we don't know exactly what they do for fun, but we're pretty sure it's not buttoned-down.

If people are having fun, they're going to work harder, stay longer, maintain their composure in a crisis, and take better care of the organization.

Here's one example.

An excited Kirt Womack of the Thiokol factory in Utah sprinted into his manager's office on the first day of spring and asked if the folks on the factory floor could do something fun-say, head outside and fly paper airplanes-if they met their quota two hours early. The manager wrinkled his brow and vetoed the idea. Kirt persisted, "Well, then, what if we exceed our quota by 50 percent?" Figuring he had nothing to lose, the manager finally gave in.

Later that day, at 1:30, the manager checked on things and found that his employees had reached 110 percent of their quota. By 3 PM, they'd surpassed 150 percent. The airplanes were launched, laughter rang out, and people frolicked (funny word, frolicked).

This tale is no big deal, right? Sure, except for the fact that a 50 percent increase isn't exactly insignificant. While this tale illustrates the benefits of levity at work, it also underscores the dire need to enlighten management. You should know what the supervisor's initial reaction was to his workers' hitting the 150 percent production goal by 3 PM. Rather than connecting the dots and seeing the link between the promise of fun and working harder, he instead commented, "Imagine what you guys could have accomplished if you hadn't taken two hours off to screw around!"

The manager's initial ignorance did little to dissuade the workers. The kind of joyous, playful, break-the-tension fun they engaged in is taking place all around the world in organizations that care about performance, retention, and profitability. Motivated purely by the opportunity to have a little fun at work, the aviation workers increased their performance dramatically. The next week they negotiated for a volleyball game on the factory floor as a reward and again hit record production levels. Each week, they continued to request fun rewards and turned in astounding production numbers. By the third week, when they had earned a trip offsite for ice cream cones, the manager finally got it.

That, in a waffle cone, is the power of the Levity Effect at work.

An increasing body of research demonstrates that when leaders lighten up and create a fun workplace, there is a significant increase in the level of employee trust, creativity, and communication-leading to lower turnover, higher morale, and a stronger bottom line.

The research also shows that managers who have taught themselves to be funnier are more effective communicators and better salespeople, have more engaged employees, earn a lot more than their peers, and are much thinner. Okay, maybe not the last one.

The following pages include experiences of real businesspeople we've studied across a spectrum of real industries-high tech, manufacturing, services, retail, financial services, health care, and so on. Some of these leaders didn't start out as fun-loving souls; in fact, many spent years in gray suits, brow knitting in conference rooms with their colleagues. But they all learned to shed some of their seriousness, break away from the pack of the mirthless, and carve successful, enjoyable, rewarding career paths. And a lot of their secrets to success aren't listed in the company handbook. They are the product of innovation and creativity. Few corporate manuals exist, if any, that recommend paper airplane flying in aeronautical factories or require incorporating a rap song into a memo on new commission plans. Wise leaders learn to discover for themselves the tricks of the levity trade. But, you might not believe us if we simply gave you a few examples and said, "Go. Have some fun." Instead, we'll prove to you the connection between the punch line and the bottom line through a variety of interviews with CEOs, business leaders, salespeople, ad executives, business owners, and individuals from many other walks of life. All share some similar traits, which we will explore here, and all have learned to lighten up for real, tangible results.

How they did it is what this book is all about. You'll discover how to master the Levity Effect to impact your career and your life.

THE PATH TO 'GREAT'NESS

First, the proof. Grab your spoon; here comes the pudding.

It's hard to believe that a warm and fuzzy subject such as fun could impact an organization's success. But the remarkable case for levity at work is growing, with the most convincing numbers culled from more than a decade of research by the Great Place to Work(r) Institute. Data from the organization's one-million-person research database reveals that "Great" companies consistently earn significantly higher marks for "fun."

Each year, the Great Place to Work(r) Institute asks tens of thousands of employees to rate their experience of workplace factors including, "This is a fun place to work." On Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, produced by the Great Place to Work(r) Institute, employees in companies that are denoted as "great" responded overwhelmingly-an average of 81 percent-that they are working in a "fun" environment. That's a compelling statistic: Employees at the best companies are also having the best time. At the "good" companies-those that apply for inclusion but do not make the top 100-only 62 employees out of 100 say they are having fun. That gap in experience is, surprisingly, one of the largest in the survey.

Now, a skeptic will ask, "Are successful companies just more fun...