We Grow Strong Because We Laugh — Laughter and Stress

When I say we exist to increase the world's total volume of smiles, it is not a sentimental slogan; laughter does measurable work in the body. Studies report lower indicators of stress-related hormones in states of laughter and positive emotion, along with changes in pain perception and immune markers.

The magnitude and conditions remain carefully debated, but the direction — that laughter moves bodily state — is widely supported.

What I feel on the management floor is simpler still: in a workplace with laughter, bad news arrives early; in a workplace of pure tension, bad news is hidden, and a hidden small problem always returns as a large one. Laughter, then, is not only a matter of health but of risk management.

A company whose leader laughs is a company that finds its accidents early. Wearing a grave face and being serious are entirely different things.

What do you work for?