[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia's a job?

[Marc Riddell]

on 6/1/07 1:07 AM, William Pietri at william at scissor.com wrote:

> Part of what I do for a living is to go around to companies and help
> them with software teams that aren't delivering. Actually, more often I
> help bosses see how they are getting in the team's way of delivering.
> But that doesn't sell as well, so let's keep that our secret.
> 
> Anyhow, one of the first things I look for is a shared team sense of
> humor. It's not a primary cause of good work, of course, but I think
> it's a great quick indicator of various sorts of cultural and process
> health. Moreover, time spent on joking around is great for team bonding,
> and provides positive and rewarding experiences that help carry people
> through difficulty and dark thoughts.
> 
> Sure, too much goofing off is no good, and we don't want Wikipedia to be
> hijacked by people whose main focus is frivolity. But I think it's a
> mistake for people to tell their fellow editors that they are just
> wasting time on X when, gosh darn it, we have an encyclopedia to write.
> 
> I just don't believe that the common reaction will be to say, "Golly,
> then I'll stop doing the thing I was motivated by and come work on the
> thing you have declared I should want to do." I expect people will only
> get the first half of that, not the second.

William,

I very much agree with what you say here. We humans have both a
psycho-neurological as well as psychobiological response to humor; it
reduces stress and helps us not take what we see as ourselves too, too
seriously ;-).

Part of what I do is to consult to companies who have discovered that some,
or all, of their teams are not, shall we say, getting along too well.
Introducing humor into the equation is always attempted. When I find that a
team cannot even agree on what's funny, I know we're in for the long haul
:-).

I also direct a crisis response team that goes to organizations such as
companies and educational institutions that have experienced some form of
trauma. In these cases, once the individuals are helped to confront, and
accept, what has happened, the team attempts to help relieve some of the
stress the trauma has induced by injecting humor into the mix. This humor is
NEVER directed at what has occurred, but, rather, at those things in the
world APART from the incident.

I laughed 'till I could cry.

It works!

Marc Riddell