It's funny how creative we can be

The freedom to have fun and be foolish makes creativity possible. In difficult circumstances, I've been inspired most by leaders who didn't take themselves too seriously. They encouraged us to laugh at ourselves and to find the humour in the challenges we faced.

Humour doesn't work in every situation, as one of my favourite Dilbert examples illustrates.

Manager: "Knock! knock!"
Employee: "Who's there?"
Manager: "Not you anymore."

Or maybe it does, depending on your sense of humour.

Humour is a powerful ingredient in problem solving because it is strongly associated with seeing things differently. We relax, reconnect and gain fresh perspective. Most brains seem to enjoy clever (or dumb) surprises, which catalyze further creativity, or at least a few groans.

A horse walks into a bar. Bartender says, "Why the long face?"

If we're serious about creativity, we should humour each other. Often the best way to tackle a tough problem is to start by generating a bunch of dumb ideas.