Hubris and Hilarity: The Manager of Infinite Jest

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It seems that promotion not only exponentially increases an individual’s intellect, but it also enhances one’s comedic outlook and narrative expression. Yes, managers are smart and hilarious. Subordinates in staff meetings respond to quips with smiles, appreciative grunts and outright howls in direct proportion to their desired ambitions. For when the manager jokes, it is incumbent upon the minions to laugh. To fail to do so invites unwonted scrutiny (What’s wrong with that guy?) which can morph into suspicion of secret thoughts, disaffection and subterfuge.

To be clear, the temptation to share your humorous insights with those forced to listen is very strong indeed, and those of us who aspire to quality management of others are well-warned to beware and guard ourselves accordingly. Emotional intelligence in management and team relationships is built on a foundation of self-awareness. The manager as comedian becomes an exercise in cautionary vigilance. The greater the abuse of this power over subordinates, and this is all about the exercise of power, the less self-awareness the manager displays. This further translates into the quality of overall relationships, trust, listening, respecting, and focusing on essential business concerns, and avoiding the thrill of self-aggrandizement of lording it over others. Does this sound at all familiar? Let’s look at specific instances that range widely over the spectrum of mere annoyance to striking violations of common sense and business-place norms.

“Instant gratification takes too long,” says the manager with a smirking sidelong glance at the employee. The employee pretends she doesn’t hear or understand and tries to redirect the conversation back to the actual business matter being discussed. It’s not that this is not a clever trope; in fact, in the original telling it was screamingly hilarious. But not only has the manager tossed this laugh grenade on the table several times over the past months, the employee was the one who originally expressed it some years back. Not only that, but it is not original with the manager or the employee, but was lifted from Carrie Fisher’s novel, “Postcards from the Edge.” Fisher, as you may know, was a fine writer as well as Star Wars princess, and it’s a small irritation that this origin and citation has been forgotten. Eyes averted, the employee can feel the manager scrutinizing her and evaluating her reaction, the business matter forgotten.

Obviously, this is a minor irritation better left forgotten. But the manager now indulges himself in other pithy observations in staff meetings and feels emboldened to comment on whatever enters his mind. As the abuse grows and self-awareness recedes, the most obvious targets of humor derive from the staff itself, often, unfortunately, devolving into comedic fodder concerning appearances. Bad hair days, clothes that differ from the unwritten uniform-of-the-day, a light jacket when others are in shirt sleeves, bare shoulders, a flattering fit, behavior traits (repeatedly addressed), childcare, gender, race, even religious characteristics may be gingerly invoked (Ramadan fasting, for instance).

Yes, humor can be weaponized, both intentionally and unthinkingly. This is particularly impactful based upon the degree of the power differential between the joker and the victim. The general manager may get his laughs at his staff meeting, poking at directors' sensitivities, criticizing them indirectly, passively, reminding them of past missteps and making light of personal circumstances (divorce, marriage, childcare, citations, medical conditions, auto accidents, etc.). Or, a gm can fashion a WMD at a company-wide meeting, singling out someone for a hilarious zinger. The only difference is the gm forgets it a minute later while the employee forgets it ... never.

At it’s extreme, this behavior gets people fired (not the gm, usually!). There is something within us that makes us want to perform to the accolades of others, and the temptation to fire off a joke can be a mighty one. A joke is rarely funny unless it invokes some small degree of danger or inappropriateness. A good antidote for this is the self-deprecating joke, something of a lost art. A truly funny individual is a master of this technique (remember the Carrie Fisher joke?). Others turn the focus on someone else or a group of people. Therefore, the sexist joke and the racist joke.

The executive team meeting was attended by two or three men and about five women. One of the men was making the case for delaying action and, snickering, said directly to the gm, “we’ll walk down the hill, not run.” As is common in these cases, the teller was overcome by his own hilarity and could barely contain himself, and kept his eyes fixed on the gm’s. The body language, the reference, and the context made it clear this was some form of a private joke. In case you don’t recognize this reference, it is from a “locker room” joke that concerns a young bull and an old bull on the top of a hill. “Let’s run down there and ‘copulate’ with one of those cows,’ says the young bull. ‘No, son,’ says the old bull, ‘let’s walk down and ‘copulate’ with all of them.” Stupid, huh? What was the thrill that made this senior manager take this risk? Apparently hoping the women in the room didn’t know this tale. The risk seems out of all proportion to the value of the action. The uncomfortable moment passed but was not forgotten.

The racist joke is a favorite for some reason, leading to weird situations and unpredictable outcomes. First, the teller must make sweeping assumptions about his audience and the risk of relating the race-based knee-slapper. Usually, the teller seems more amused than his audience, and finds the telling cathartic. Why? Why are we wired in such a way that we will take unreasonable risks to get a chuckle out of someone we probably don’t even care that much about? A case came to my attention once concerning a supervisor (who was a minority) who was telling a joke (about another minority group) that had to do with laziness. Historical note: remember Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz’ 1976 joke about African Americans (sex, loose shoes, warm bathroom)? Well, this joke was along those lines, perhaps milder. The incident circulated around the office until it got to the director’s office, who summarily fired the supervisor. Clearly, such humorous attempts can incite strong feelings. In this case, the director bypassed due process (union environment) and made a precipitous decision. If he had followed the normal procedure the outcome would have been sustainable. The supervisor was subsequently returned to work. The director felt he “made his point.” When I fire someone, I like them to stay fired.

The thesis here is that we can get too comfortable with our level of authority. Most of which, in most businesses, is highly illusory, especially in matters that stray from the proper execution of our duties. Joking with authority is not joking at all, but a display of power. If we care about our business and mission, and the quality of the workplace as an environment of human participation, we must care about our own self-awareness and emotional intelligence. The failure to do so is abusive and self-delusional, and highly risky for those not at the pinnacle of the power structure.

Like most people, I like being in charge. I like it for very many reasons, but mostly because I think I am good at it and treat people professionally and effectively. But, like you, I’m human and sometimes think I’m hilarious. Once in staff, I was introducing an acting manager who was filling in for my one of my regular managers, a man of small stature. I remarked that she had “some small shoes to fill.” I know, it doesn’t sound that funny now. But staff chuckled a little bit and it was not intended to be hurtful. Still, a red flag came up in my mind as to the thesis of this article. It was time to work on my self-awareness and self-editing function as I felt the urge to make others laugh.

Perhaps it was this urge that allowed former White House aide Kelly Sadler to lightly dismiss Senator John McCain’s thoughts since he’d “be dead soon anyway.” Or, former Corporate Communications Director Justine Sacco’s infamous tweet: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Or, former MLB pitcher Mike Bacsik’s “joke” about Mexicans. Or, former tv star Rosanne Barr’s commentary on Muslims and The Planet of the Apes.

Laughter can be delightful and it is essential to a happy life. But it can be corrosive and destructive when it is weaponized and misused to deride, embarrass or defame others. It is the perfect focus for the “manager of infinite jest” who is desirous of an ethical and decent approach in self-aware management of self and others. The next time you’re tempted to display your edgy wit to subordinates, just don’t. Keep the business humor enlightened and self-deprecating, or exceedingly mild in subject and tone. Find: "Public Transit Operations: The Strategic Professional" here.