Avionics News November 2011 - (Page 50)

series BUSInESS BASICS B y g r e g l a S l o funny business guy walks into a bar and asked, “Do you have any carflavored potato chips?” “No,” said the bartender. “We only have plain.” If you haven’t laughed in a while – and in all likelihood you still haven’t – there’s buzz among workplace-productivity experts which suggests maybe it’s time you did. After all, humor is serious business, and encouraging it just may serve your shop as well as any wellness program, teambuilding session or employee-of-the-month award. “We’re all under a lot of stress these days, so we’re looking for a way to help us get through this a little better,” said Paul McGhee, a retired university psychologist, stand-up comedian and author of Humor as Survival Training in a Stressed Out World. “Your sense of humor is one of your tools – one of your arrows in your quiver – that’s got the ability to deflect a lot of negative stuff.” This comes with some big payoffs, including better health and improved work performance – each clearly a benefit to both your people and your business. But, you need to let it happen and prime the pump. Indeed, if you don’t hear laughter at your business, the joke may eventually be on you. MIrTHfUl MEDICInE Bouts of laughter release endorphins, our body’s opiate-like feel-good hormone, which alone makes it something of a miracle therapy. But, laughter also is a sign of generalized wellbeing. People who laugh regularly complain less about stress and just about everything else. Researchers say that a sense of humor is good medicine, especially for heart health. The first clue of this connection came from Norman Cousins, long-time editor of the Saturday Evening Post, who 50 avionics news How to Laugh Your Way to Business Success was diagnosed with a debilitating autoimmune disease. Not content to wither away in a hospital, he discharged himself, self-medicated with high doses of vitamin C, Groucho Marx and Candid Camera, and reported fewer symptoms, less pain and better quality of life. He wrote about his experience in his 1980 book, Anatomy of an Illness, which kick-started medical research to validate his claims. Laughing helps our immune system. This makes sense given the connection to stress, which wreaks havoc on our ability to ward off anything from colds to chronic eczema. In fact, even lame attempts at humor have this affect, according to some studies, which suggests it doesn’t really matter why the chicken crossed the road. The same can be said for pain. In studies, humor reduced the need for medication in post-operative orthopedic patients – particularly if they got to choose their poison, so to speak – and it lessened discomfort in probably the toughest crowd of all, dental patients. Other, lessrigorous research has explored laughter’s role in treating respiratory disease, rheumatoid arthritis and skin conditions, especially those connected to infections. But laughter’s most promising shtick is for treatment of heart patients. Doctors examined patients going through cardiac rehabilitation after surgery by randomly assigning them into two groups: those who watched a funny video during exercise and those a • november 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News November 2011

Point of Communication
AEA Now
The View From Washington
International News and Regulatory Updates
EVS
Member Profile
High Plains Possibilities
Electronic Engine Instruments
A Conversation With...
Crisis Aloft?
Meet the AEA Board
Aviation Aces
Business Basics
Pro*to*col
Legal Ease
Advertisers Index
Theory & Practice
What's New
Marketplace Classifieds

Avionics News November 2011