Stop being funny at work. Learn to think like a comedian instead

"We are professors of marketing and management who study humor and workplace dynamics. Our own research-and a growing body of work by other scholars -shows that it's harder to be funny than most people think. The downside of cracking a bad joke is often larger than what you might gain by landing a good one. Fortunately, you don't have to tell sidesplitting jokes to make humor work for you. You can learn to think like a comedian instead."

"We developed the " benign violation theory " to explain what makes things funny-and why attempts at humor so often backfire, especially in the workplace. Essentially, humor arises when something is both wrong and OK at the same time. People find jokes funny when they break rules while seeming harmless. Miss one of those ingredients when you tell a joke and your audience won't appreciate it. When it's all benign and there's no violation, you get yawns."

Humor can increase likability, ease stress, strengthen teams, spark creativity, and signal leadership potential. Attempts at humor often backfire because comedy depends on simultaneously violating norms and appearing harmless. A joke that is merely wrong or merely benign will fail: pure benignity yields boredom, pure violation can trigger outrage. Workplace differences in seniority, culture, gender, or mood make the benign-violation line especially narrow. Cracking a bad joke can damage reputation more than a good joke helps. Adopting a comedian’s mindset can make the use of humor more strategic and less risky.

Read at Fast Company