Humor, The Best Medicine For Innovation

Research shows that humor and laughter can produce many great benefits, including:

1. Increased creativity and innovation;
2. Improved problem-solving ability;
3. Increased productivity;
4. Healthy physical changes (boost energy and immune system, diminish pain and stress).

Michael Kerr, a leading authority on fostering innovative workplace cultures, says that humor helps people play with ideas, lower their internal critic, and see things in new ways.” He explains that humor and creativity are both about looking at your challenges in novel ways and making new connections you’ve never thought of before.

Corporate surveys conclude that “people with a sense of humor tend to be more creative, less rigid and more willing to consider and embrace new ideas and methods.”

A little humor in the right situations can help take employees “outside the box” and create a frame of mind that generates lots of good ideas and solutions to difficult problems.

Here are four ways to enhance your sense of humor.

1. Learn to laugh at yourself.
2. Keep an ear out for healthy humor.
3. Actively look for a laugh every day.
4. Learn and share a few jokes.

 

Have a crazy idea? Don’t be afraid to think it through as an actual health care innovation. Albert Einstein once said, “If at first an idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it.”

Call the Innovation Lab at (714) 735-3800 or send an email to lab@ii4change.com. Your idea might not be so crazy after all.

Everyone can innovate and submit a healthcare invention to the Innovation Lab. To submit your idea online, go to https://ii4change.com/got-an-idea/.