Many work environments are serious places. Work is hard, fun and enjoyment in the workplace is not encouraged - because in many manager's eyes, fun = work not being done, or done to the highest standard.

This book sets out to prove those managers wrong - showing how introducing fun and humor into a work place actually makes staff enjoy their work and work harder, and better. Staff who look forward to work will have less time of sick, spend more time at work actually working, and be satisfied enough to want to stay.

It's a very personal book - the author writes from his personal experiences and experiments with introducing humour at work - and you will get many ideas of how to introduce it into your workplace.

If you are in a management role, and believe that your workplace could do with a humour injection - read this book!

I've been on a business reading kick for awhile. This book was an interesting difference. It's not the straight-up here's-how-to-work-better or a here's-how-to-manage-people book or here's-how-to-find-yourself-the-best-kind-of-job book. Instead, it's a look at how you can inject humor into the workplace from the world's first (self-proclaimed) humor engineer. His thoughts are that humor (the right kind of humor) can make a bad situation more bearable.
I wish there had been some more scientific studies backing up these claims (most were studies already published in other works). Most of the stories, especially in the early chapters, were personal stories about how Mr. Tarvin successfully used humor. Otherwise this was a very readable book which only sometimes reached a little too far in trying to also be humorous.

Three stars
This book came out April 1st
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

This was a good read. It started out very interesting then it lost me about half way through. A little too much and a little to long for my tastes but it is a good book to skip through and find what you need!

The first thing you should know is this is a business book, not a humor book. The author says this clearly from the start. You will find charts that convey no information, deep-sounding aphorisms with zero practical application, highlights from other business books, pointless jargon and all the other things that make business books so tedious.

On the other hand, this has more jokes than most business books. Not better jokes, but more of them. The author throws in one or two on almost all pages. They're the kind of self-deprecating, so-stupid-it's-funny wisecracks and puns that are usually found in after-dinner speeches; they would only work with captive audiences, they're not the kind of jokes you could use in conversation.

This is the kind of humor that is the topic of the book. Not the powerful, upsetting, transformative humor of a Lenny Bruce, George Carlin or Richard Pryor; not incisive satire or sophisticated comedy; not All in the Family, but the Cosby Show to fight racism on prime time television; gentle fun that reduces tensions and smooths social awkwardness. The author explicitly warns against anything but the most innocuous humor and includes in the humor category any sort of gentle fun.

For one example, the author forbids giving other employees nicknames. But nicknames are one of the classic defenses against bad bosses, helping employees maintain solidarity when they cannot fight back directly. This is not an oversight, this is not a book about how to use humor to accomplish your personal goals at work, to defend yourself or neutralize opposition or gain attention; all of that is too divisive to the business. It's a book about how to get along better with everyone and enjoy yourself more, while making more money for the company.

Another point is the author seems to assume everyone works in drab, cheerless, low-pressure offices where the work itself is not fun. Even his start-ups seem to make only listless efforts at going through the motions of having fun.

I've heard of such places and seen them in movies, I believe they exist. But I've never worked in ones. I worked on Wall Street trading floors in the 1980s, where frat-house humor was crude, racist and sexist--things the author warns against--but for all its faults it helped people deal with the high pressure. I don't defend it as right, but it's common when pressure is high. I've worked in start-ups and hedge funds and other places where real humor, often dark and dangerous, was essential to the team fabric; and where the work itself provided the fun and excitement, the humor was used to cushion defeat, savor victory and promote cohesion rather than just for fun.

This brings up another point the author plays down. Racists use humor, generally more effectively than anti-racists. Debaters and trial lawyers know that when you can't defeat a position on logic, you can still get the audience to laugh at your opponent. Workplace humor is more often used to undermine business goals--you see this in places with defeatist or anti-customer cartoons on the walls like "You want it when?" or Murphy's Law. The author likes to present humor as a gentle, human essential that is only occasionally perverted to bad ends, and usually by mistake. In fact, humor is a powerful tool that serves all masters.

The book is consistent. The author uses humor to make his basically boring but sensible advice more palatable and fun. He doesn't use it to force a change in perspective or challenge prejudice. His argument is logical and statistical, he never uses humor to outflank those things. It is a veneer on an otherwise bland book, this book has business, not humor, at its core.

I recommend this book to people who want this. It will support your arguments for allowing more gentle fun in the workplace, and show you how to achieve it. The actual practical advice could fit in a single chapter, I would prefer to read this argument in an essay a few blog posts than in a book, but I realize (but don't understand) there is a huge market for this kind of padded, business-speak book.

I don't recommend this book for people interested in humor, or who are in a hurry to get practical advice.

Humor That Works is a interesting book that reminds us of we have some fun at what we do that it can change our perspective. I enjoyed the writing style and the author's ideas.

This the first time I come across a business book about humor. Very interesting concepts and researches. I truly believe that humor is an essential part of our life otherwise the world would be boring and we would be in the way to become simply robots! The author provides multiple ways of applying humor in different business and life situations. Sometimes it is an interesting approach like in the example of quoting Shakespeare in different business situations. Humor definitely helps to look at things from another angle. Can we learn how to use humor in our day to day lives and working situations? Read this book and find your way!

I like reading "business books" and the fact that this one was based on humor that works made it even more interesting to me.

The author has a degree in computer science and engineering. He started his career at Proctor & Gamble as an IT project manager. With experience in improv, he realized that people are more likely to do something if it was fun so he started adding humor to his presentations, email and started an internal blog. A few years later, he left P&G to become the world's first "humor engineer" to solve corporate problems using humor.

This book will help you improve your humor skills but not how to be funnier. The chapters are:

I. The What and Why of Humor

* Humanity's desperate need for humor
* Why choose humor
* Defining humor that works
* The skill of humor

II. The How of Humor

* Humor and execution
* Humor and thinking
* Humor and communication
* Humor and connection
* Humor and leadership
* Success and happiness at work

III. Debrief - includes "no excuses" resources

I liked this book. It was a good reminder that there are things you may not like to do but if you add fun and humor to it, you may enjoy it more or at least make it bearable. If there is something you don't like about your job, you are responsible for it ... it's up to you to either change it or change the way you think about it. This book lets you know how to make your work environment fun whether you are an employee or in a leadership role.

I also like the writing style. It was interesting, and humorous and silly at times. I'd like to read other books by this author.