Falling sales. Rising unemployment. The economic outlook. So what’s to laugh about?

Well, according to Dacher Keltner, author of Born to be Good, now is exactly when you should be laughing.  For one thing, it reduces stress and adds to your personal resilience.

More important, though, is the new scientific evidence he cites on why laughter is key to the innovation that is the only way out of this mess.
When you laugh, you get a nice boost of oxytocin, which makes you more expansive, generative and creative.  When you laugh with others, it builds trust and affinity, which is critical in bonding and collaborative work. Then it offers chemical reinforcement that makes you want to build those successful collaborations.

Older than human speech, laughter lights up a part of your brain that isn’t activated either verbally or visually. “Laughter is a ticket to travel to the landscape of the human imagination. It indicates that alternatives to reality are possible.” And as any innovation expert can tell you, it’s that suspension of reality that helps you jump out of the rut and imagine the world as it could be. It creates a climate of risk-taking that drives new thinking, and that keeps innovative companies making money even in times like these.

I’m reminded of a comment a client once made when meeting in my former ad agency. “When I walk in the door and hear the laughter, I know you’re doing your very best work for me.”