Archive for February, 2006

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Teambuilding Secrets of Burns and Allen

Tuesday, February 7th, 2006

Before comedian George Burns could become “God” he had to become part of a team to succeed. George Burns started out as a solo act. He tried everything to make it in show-business and failed. He was a singer, a dancer, a comedian. He even did a dog act and then a seal act. George had a few human partners but still no success. No matter what type of act he tried, he failed.

 

Then one day he met Gracie Allen. They decided to team up as a comedy team, Burns and Allen. Didn’t they succeed right away? No. The reason I believe they weren’t a success at first was because even though they were a team they were both in the wrong role. Sometime teams don’t work out because their roles aren’t defined or they are in the wrong role. This is what happened early on to Burns and Allen. At first George Burns thought that he would be the comic and Gracie would be the, what they call in show-business as the straight-man (or in this case the straight-woman) When they debuted the act they weren’t that funny. A couple of write ups in the paper said that they didn’t think the act would last very long.

 

So how did they become regarded as one of the greatest stand-up comedy acts in history? First they had to realize that what they were doing wasn’t working. Quite often a team isn’t successful is because they fail to realize their team isn’t working until it is too late.

 

Then they had to figure out what it was that was working and what wasn’t working. They had to build on what was working and scrap what was failing. In this case they realized that the audiences were laughing at what Gracie was saying. So they switched roles. George became the Straight-man and Gracie became the comic. The rest is history they became a successful comedy team in Vaudeville, Radio, and Television.

 

When building a team it is important to get the right people for the team. Define each team member’s role. What will their contribution to the team be to reach its objectives? If a team member isn’t working out in a certain role maybe the team member needs to be moved to some other role that will help him contribute. If not maybe they aren’t right for the team.

Posted in Teambuilding, Productivity | No Comments »

Laughter Therapy - Visiting the Doctor

Monday, February 6th, 2006

Today my mother Tulara Lee saw a Cardiovascular Specialist about her lung cancer and even though the news wasn’t good it wasn’t all bad. Obviously to hear you have about a golf ball size tumor that is most likely malignant isn’t something that you are going to celebrate, but the doctor was confident that if it turns out to be malignant they can go in and surgically remove it with a full recovery.

The optimism of the doctor gave us both hope, but what really helped mom cope with the news was the doctor’s sense of humor. Upon learning that mom had been in comedy all her life and now a motivational humorist he felt comfortable using humor during the examination, helping put us both at ease. The doctor and my mother joked back and forth creating a positive rapport.

The doctor examined her, then went and started to write down his findings. He said, “I’ll be right with you. I need to write this down. I have a great memory; it’s just a short one.” Mom laughed. He also joked with her about her age and what good shape she is in for age.

After we left the doctor’s office she was relieved. She was optimistic and ready to get on with the treatment. I don’t think she would have been so positive had she not liked the doctor. If the doctor didn’t have a humorous bedside manner she wouldn’t have wanted to face a major operation. Henry Ward Beecher said, “Mirth is God’s medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it.”

I have found that when the doctor has a sense of humor it creates a positive rapport. When my ex-wife was sick and needing a kidney/pancreas transplant the doctors that she responded to more positively were ones that had a sense of humor. Sharing humor creates a bond between two people and this is especially important when a person has a major health problem. Humor puts the patient at ease. Again it goes back to attitude. Bill Cosby once said, “You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything….You can survive it.” That is exactly what she intends to do. Survive it. Mom says she has too many things to do to let this get the best of her. I believe with that attitude she will be just fine. After all, she is booked to speak a little over two months after her scheduled operation and mom is from old show business and their motto is “THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!!”

Posted in Laughter Therapy, Motivational Humor, Wellness, Positive Thinking, Stress Reduction, coping with a serious illness | No Comments »

Motivational Humor’s Casual Friday With Jokes, Quotes & Annecdotes

Friday, February 3rd, 2006
  • Ethel Barrymore - You grow up the day you have your first real laugh - at yourself.
  • Will Rogers - We are all here for a spell. Get all the good laughs you can.       
  • “Henry Elliot -If its sanity you are after there is no recipe like laughter.”
  • Sir Francis Bacon -“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.”
  • Henry Ward Beecher -“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs — jolted by every pebble in the road.”
  • Aristotle -“Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit.”

  • W. C. Fields - “Start off every day with a smile and get it over with.”
  • Gracie Allen - “Build a better mousetrap than your neighbour and Kraft Cheese will beat a path to your door.”
  • Bill Cosby - ”A word to the wise ain’t necessary - it’s the stupid ones that need the advice.”
  • George Carlin - “Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac.”
  • Marty Feldman - “The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.”
  • George Gobel - “If it weren’t for electricity we’d all be watching television by Candlelight.”

Posted in Motivational Humor, Humor, Jokes, Quotes | No Comments »

Humor In Tough Times

Thursday, February 2nd, 2006

When someone is going through a serious illness or highly stressful situation it is important to remember that they might be able to handle the big challenges, but seem to fall apart with some small insignificant thing. We work so hard coping with an illness or something catastrophic that when someone says something that would normally not bother us we get very upset.

 

The other day I was over at my mother’s house. She has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and is coping with it very positively. In fact we are using Laughter Therapy to help cope with this challenge. (see Laughter Therapy) And it has been very therapeutic for her and me. She has been making some pillows for my new home and I commented that she didn’t do as good a job on the last two as she had in the past. Mom took this personally and I could tell she was upset by the comment. Normally this would not upset her. I apologized for hurting her feelings.

 

Later I asked her if she had been watching the comedy videos I brought over for her. She said, “No, I haven’t needed them lately and I want to save them for when I really needed them.” I think she still needs to put the laughter in her life even when she doesn’t feel the stress of worrying about her illness. Waiting to get an appointment from the specialist is stressing her out even though she may not be conscious of its effects.

 

When going through tough times there will always be peaks and valleys, that’s part of life. How we cope with the valleys is determined by our attitude. We need to recognize the valleys and deal with them. Using humor to get thru the tough times will help as long as we aren’t in denial. You have heard the expression “grinning idiot’ I believe that is someone who is in denial. Don’t use humor to mask the problem. Use humor to cope with the problem.

www.originallyspeaking.com

 

 

Posted in Laughter Therapy, Motivational Humor, Wellness, Positive Thinking, Humor, Stress Reduction, coping with a serious illness | No Comments »

Using Humor to Overcome Burnout

Wednesday, February 1st, 2006

Do you feel hopeless? All stressed out? Are you fatigued? Don’t want to get out of bed to go to work? If so, you might be suffering from burnout.

Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams describes burnout in the medical industry as “a state in which people are unfulfilled by their work and are insufficiently rejuvenated. They find themselves giving too much for too long; then something snuffs out the joy and thrill of helping others.” 

Dr. Beverly Potter say’s, “Burnout is a malaise of the spirit in which motivation, that mysterious force that gets us moving, is damaged or even destroyed. Job burnout could be called job depression.”
 

 So how do we overcome burnout?

I believe that you have to acknowledge the fact that you have to make some changes. When you feel burned out you are in rut. In order to get out of a rut you have to make a conscious effort. Do something different. Don’t try to make big changes at first that may fail. Quite often when we are down we try to do too much, making us feel even more hopeless. Start with small changes where you can have some success. Celebrate your success. When something doesn’t work don’t get discouraged look at it as a learning process.

Incorporate humor and laughter into your life. When we are suffering from burnout we tend to take everything too seriously. This is when you need to find more and more humor in your life. Not only will the laughter help reduce your stress, but humor can give you a different perspective. Make a game out of your work. Look up jokes that apply to what you are trying to do. Think how your favorite sit-com would handle this project. Remember those old “I love Lucy” shows where Lucy and Ethel would work in a chocolate factory and couldn’t keep up with the assembly line. How would they respond to what you are trying to do?

I find myself getting into a rut when I start trying too hard and taking myself too seriously. Putting a little fun and humor into the task at hand helps to alleviate the tension that stifles my creativity and the ability to accomplish my goal.

www.originallyspeaking.com

Posted in Motivational Humor, Productivity, Job Stress, Stress Reduction, Burnout | No Comments »

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