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 widely seen as a reflection of his genius. He often displays it. For example, when asked how to warm Mars to make it hospitable to humans, he replied, “The quickest way is to drop a thermonuclear weapon over the poles.” And on how he would prefer to die, “I would like to die on Mars. Just not in a crash landing.” When asked if he was an alien from Mars, he said, “The rumor that I’m building a spaceship to go back to my home planet Mars is completely untrue.” Musk has even considered taking the fun at his car factories to new heights (no pun intended), telling an interviewer, “I’m actually thinking about putting in a roller coaster — like a functional roller coaster at the Fremont plant. You get in a wagonette and it takes you on a tour of the factory and up and down. Who else has a roller coaster? … It would probably be very expensive, but I like the idea."

In February 2018, Musk launched his signature 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, the car had a GPS navigation system with a sign that said “Don’t Panic.” After the Tesla Roadster launched into space, Musk said, “It’s going to be out there in space for maybe millions or billions of years. Maybe some alien race will find it in the future. They’re going to think, what the hell were these guys doing? Were they worshiping this car? Why do they have a little car inside a big car? And that’s probably going to 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 put-downs, as a signal of dominance or to encourage conformity to group norms. The style is primarily concerned 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. And while some styles of humor can be effective, it’s best to avoid humor altogether for this purpose. During a difficult time for the company, Yahoo!’s then-CEO Marissa Mayer was widely criticized 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.