The Power of Laughter
The power of laughter..….. I started pondering this point whilst sitting on a plane having watched my beloved team Spurs lose the Champions League Final.
We’d left the UK three days before full of excitement, hope and belief. Like thousands of others we were putting the effort in with a flight to Gibraltar and a 7 hour road trip up to Madrid! I was on this journey with 5 wonderful friends who were all fizzing with the same feelings. We were committed! For those of you with no interest in football, by 11pm on Saturday evening the hopes, dreams and belief had been wiped out with a depressing defeat! As we reflected on this as a group we all decided it was still one of the greatest weekends ever. Despite the hurt and the pain (stay with me please non football fans!) we were still happy.
The reason for this is beautifully simple. Laughter! We laughed from the minute we met up until the minute we said goodbye. In a digital age full of presentation and polish there is something very old fashioned about laughter. Laughter isn’t pretty or filtered; it’s spontaneous, honest, loud and beautiful! For someone whose laugh has been compared to Boycie from Only Fools and Horses there is no audio filter out there that could possibly improve it!
Whilst considering the joy that is laughter I found my thoughts drifting towards work. My latest project is a bit like the mighty Spurs, the result doesn’t quite match the expectation at the start. The analogy between the two experiences started to grow. A bit like Liverpool’s penalty award after 27 seconds we have also been dealt some curve balls which meant things didn’t quite go to plan.
As I reflect upon whether it was successful, the reason I believe it was is due to the experience and the memories that I am left with. Once again our old fashioned friend laughter was the key. Inadvertently it had been used as a leadership tool. It started at the top with the leadership team and filtered all the way down to create a working environment that was creative, positive and fun. We couldn’t always control the outcome but we could control the experience and ultimately it is the experience that stays in your memory far more than the result.
Next time you don’t get the result you want, have a think about the journey you took to get there and how much laughter there was along the way. We all measure success differently but at Scamp Speakers we believe that it should be synonymous with enjoyment.