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The Value of Whimsy
December 17, 2007
Conversation is the way we discover how to transform our world, together.
-Margaret Wheatley
-Margaret Wheatley
"Never underestimate the value of humor. Why did laughter get the bad rap for indicating lack of seriousness, slacking off? Our staff meetings are great fun. When an outsider overhears the tone of our meetings, he or she will usually comment with something like: "There was so much laughing going on. How do you get anything done?"
"It is the laughter that binds us together, that creates an environment and a sense of teamwork that enables people to share their joys and sorrows, as well as their frustrations and needs. People, who can laugh at and with each other, trust each other.
"Consider the staff meeting when we were in our usual stories with laughter mode and Roger arrived a bit late and announced: "We have a lot of work to get done today, so we'll just chit chat for a few more minutes and then get down to it." Suddenly, no one had anything to say. We just sat around, ate our lunch, and talked through the issues of the day. Laughter was minimized, as was the amount of work accomplished.
"A playful approach to life issues, whether personal or professional, fosters creative potential, reduces stress, and just makes living a whole lot better."
Yes, that's right, once again we are discounting all the books in our online bookstore by 20% for the last two weeks of the year. Twenty-nine Exchange books, such as those listed below, are now on sale in the Exchange Bookstore.
- Caring Spaces, Learning Places: Children's Environments that Work by James Greenman
- The Power of Play by David Elkind
- From Conflict to Peace Building: The Power of Early Childhood Initiatives
- On Being a Leader
- Staff Challenges
- The Complete Parenting Exchange Library
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Comments (3)
Displaying All 3 CommentsINSIGHTS Training & Consulting
Stillwater, MN, United States
Loved this article! No matter how young or old you are....humor and being playful are a necessity in life!
We need to be reminded of this, but when adults have fun and enjoy life...so will the children!
color outside the lines
tyler, TX, United States
When I heard a classroom erupting with laughter, it made me giggle inside with comfort. It made me know that the teacher had "caught it". Her storytelling had given the students the gift of surprise hilarity. There was seldom a discipline problem in that room! They laughed it off.
Legacy of Caring
United States
In the mid-1980’s I directed a child care center in Indiana where a dozen teachers – serious thinkers with great wit - gathered weekly in a small meeting room adjacent a classroom of eighteen Kindergarten children. One day a visitor to the center interviewed some of the Kindergartners about their future plans in life. One young girl’s aspiration was to become a teacher. She said, “Teachers have lots of meetings with the other teachers. You should hear them talking and laughing. It sounds like the best time. ”
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