Have you ever noticed yourself forcing a smile as you talk, or bookending what you say with light chuckles?
Well, let me introduce you to ‘laughter padding’ - the comedic equivalent of sprinkling extra glitter on your outfit before hitting the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
It sounds ridiculously trivial, but it’s a conversation currently taking the business world by storm, and might just have some more serious ramifications for you in the workplace.
The concerns around the habit are that while, in some circumstances, it may diffuse tension or soften an uncomfortable situation, cumulatively, laughter padding begins to undermine you. The argument being that people may start to take you less seriously or find you less credible.
This piece isn’t designed to discredit the fact that the behaviour undoubtedly has an impact in terms of how you’re perceived. All behaviour does. But by only focusing on the effects, we’ll never fix the problem – if, indeed, it is a problem at all.
For example, let’s say that the conclusion to the question, “Is laughter padding holding you back?” is “Yes.” Without the curiosity as to what’s driving the habit, the upshot of this conclusion will simply be to focus attention on stopping it. Where’s the learning there? You may stop that particular habit, but at what cost?
And let’s say that the conclusion to the question, “Is laughter padding holding you back?” is “No, it’s really beneficial.” Without the curiosity as to why, the upshot of this conclusion will simply be to focus attention on doing it more. You may now embed this new habit, but, again, at what cost?
Either way, the result is really self-focused, contrived and likely to inhibit people from being themselves. Surely the less that people are wrapped up in themselves, the better. So, let’s not ask questions that lead to more of this.
Some better questions, for the business, are:
- How do you encourage cultures of ‘flow’ (take a look at our webinar on this) where people feel comfortable and supported to simply show up and be themselves? In the process, freeing up a load of headspace to focus on being generous and doing really great work.
- What is it about your business culture that perhaps encourages habits such as laughter padding’ which surely bely a lack of comfort to just ‘be’?
Taking a step back, we can ask:
- How comfortable do people feel in your organisation?
- Could you be part of the problem? What might you be doing that’s making people around you feel uncomfortable?
(NB: all references to comfort in this piece are exclusively in relation to ‘being ourselves’ and do not preclude the environment being challenging and stretching us in our work. This is purely about comfort in our own skin.)
Questions for the team are:
- Are you a ‘laughter padder’?
- Does this only occur with certain individuals or in certain scenarios?
Ask yourself why it is and what triggers it as opposed to focusing on stopping it or doing more of it. Approach this with curiosity over judgement. And remember, it’s not all on you. We don’t behave in a vacuum.
So, onto the wider business point
On the whole, our business environments don’t truly permit us to be comfortable just being ourselves. They’re too often fraught with risk and judgement.
This bears out from our experience in the field. 75% of people say that they don’t feel confident to follow their gut instincts. 61% of people say that they don’t feel confident to be their authentic selves. This is pretty damning.
Why is this? Most business cultures still place a heavy pressure on us to conform to something – a way of looking, sounding and behaving. It’s got better, but it’s still there. The injunction to ‘keep it professional’ at work sits deep in our psyche’s. Laughter padding smacks of a habit picked up as a mechanism to survive an environment that just doesn’t feel safe.
And this starts from the moment that someone connects with your company. It starts at the job interview, even before that – with the job spec and interview requirements.
Our guidance:
- Recruit difference - We’re always on the lookout for ‘like-minded’ people. But this isn't good for growth and progress and sets a precedent. “This is the way we do things here.” So, actively seek out difference and create an environment where the interviewee feels safe to ‘be’ or ‘flow’ rather than ‘conform’ or ‘fit in’.
- Banish corporate relics - Break down corporate formalities that serve no purpose and make people conform – removing nuance, difference and ultimately the ability for people to just be themselves.
- Check yourself - Start with you and make a note of any time that you pull back from allowing your true self to flow and why. Is it a ‘you’ thing or a 'business culture' thing? Either way, take some action to work on this. Also, consider whether you might, in any way, be contributing to the discomfort of those around you. Again, take action.
So, one more time
Is laughter padding holding people back? As with other issues such as uncertain body language, unhelpful vocal habits or any other external effects, it’s a manifestation of something deeper – whether that’s something very personal or symptomatic of the business culture. It’s the wrong question to ask if you want to provoke real, positive change.
So, let’s start asking better questions instead.
