Humor is a serious matter

Truly creative leaders embrace all the ideas their employees come up with and tend to stimulate innovation. They are open to different points of view and willing to take risks. These leadership qualities can be further enhanced by humor. According to IDEO founder and CEO Dave Kelly, “If you dive into a company culture and find a bunch of sad nerds, I can guarantee they are unlikely to invent anything.”

There is an entire branch of social science that studies the psychological and physiological effects of humor and laughter on the brain and immune system, called gelotology. Research in this area has shown that humor, laughter and fun relieve physical and cognitive stress, and lead to flexible thinking - a key component of creativity and problem solving. Gelotology may also explain why many business leaders not only use humor, but also invest in creating a playful and fun work environment.

Until recently, Elon Musk's eccentricity and brutal sense of humor were perceived by most as a reflection of his genius. He shows it off often. For example, when asked how to warm Mars to make it hospitable for humans, he replied: “The quickest way is to drop thermonuclear weapons over the poles.” And how he'd rather die: “I'd like to die on Mars. Not during an emergency landing.” When asked if he was an alien from Mars, “The rumor that I am building a spaceship to return to my home planet Mars is completely untrue.” Musk has even thought about taking the fun at his auto factories to new heights (no pun intended), saying in an interview: “I'm actually thinking about putting a roller coaster—like a functional roller coaster at the Fremont plant. You sat inside the trolley and it took you on a sightseeing tour of the factory, as well as up and down. Who else has a roller coaster? … It will probably be very expensive, but I like the idea.”

In February 2018, Musk launched his famous red Tesla Roadster sports car into space on the first SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Complete with a mannequin in a spacesuit in the driver's seat of the car, there was a GPS navigation system, on the display of which the inscription “Don’t panic” was lit. After launching the Tesla Roadster into space, Musk said: “It will be there in space for maybe millions or billions of years. Maybe some alien race will discover it in the future. They'll think what the hell were these guys doing? Did they worship this car? Why do they have a small car located in a big car? And this will most likely puzzle them.”

However, Musk's brutal style of humor has limited application and requires great skill. Brutal humor is most often perceived as sarcasm, cynicism, or humiliation, as a signal of dominance, or to encourage conformity to group norms of behavior. This style is mainly associated with generating negative emotions, and therefore has limited application in organizations. An illustration of Musk's use of brutal humor was a comment reportedly made in the early days of the Tesla plant in response to an employee's complaint that the work was too hard: “I would tell these people that they will be able to see their families often.” when we go bankrupt."

While Musk's misuse of humor hasn't caused major controversy in the past, that all changed when his company's performance began to be questioned. Tesla shares fell 6% and two of its top executives quit, just hours after Musk rattled investors by making sarcastic jokes and smoking marijuana on a live web show. Musk's outburst comes at a time when Tesla shareholders have become increasingly concerned about its finances and its ability to produce cars in large quantities.

Leaders must be especially tactful when using humor as a means of coping with stress, anxiety, and organizational crises. While some styles of humor can be effective, it is best to avoid humor altogether for this purpose. During a difficult period for the company, the then CEO of Yahoo! Marissa Mayer was widely condemned for joking at a staff meeting: “I'm not here to announce layoffs (pause) ... this week.”

Likewise, Musk's sardonic tweets, musings about sleeping on the floor at Tesla and being chronically sleep-deprived have not exactly entertained his shareholders and prompted several Wall Street analysts to call for the company to appoint a strong deputy for operational support and investor relations. You can't avoid humor. But, like any other important leadership skill, you need to correctly understand its place in management and apply it effectively. We're seeing more and more leaders harness the power of humor to unleash the creativity of their employees, create an emotional connection with customers, and lay the groundwork for new strategic directions that shape the future.

After all, joking is a serious matter.