Boundless: The Human Side Of Work

Dr. Laura Gallaher joins me from Serbia, where she is part of Remote Year, a community that travels to twelve locations within a year with a cohort of people working remotely. Laura is an organizational psychologist who studied humor and communication in the workplace and notably completed a dissertation with "that's what she said" in the title (office fans, anyone?). With a title like that it was probably clear that Academia would be too limiting for her. We talk a bit about humor and how it can be helpful or destructive in an organization. She first points out that "aggressive" humor - even if you mean well is rarely a way to strengthen bonds. We then talk about how leaders can embrace humor, especially to show their vulnerability, and give their teams more freedom to make mistakes, be open and be themselves. After getting her Ph.D., she worked with NASA after the Columbia explosion and worked on some of the toughest "they fell victim to the same thing that could happen in any organization." She notes that