The thing is our brains are better at remembering the predictable, and the general rather than the specific & the original; which is why old jokes are easy to hang on to. Jokes like:-

 “My dog’s got no nose”. 

“Oh dear, how does he smell? “

“Terrible.”

We have all heard it, and once heard, it’s never forgotten…

However the truly clever joke has an unexpected twist. It takes our brains off their typical and predictable paths and that is why it works. This is why we we find it hard to remeber a more original, clever joke, such as:-

Two men are in the woods when one collapses. He’s not breathing, his eyes are blank, so his friend calls 999.

“My friend is dead. What should I do?”

“Stay calm,” says the operator. “First, let’s make sure he’s dead.”   There is silence, then  ….. a  shot.

“OK,” says the caller. “What now?”

It is the job of a leader to be able to take his team to a different way of thinking and acting (see yesterday’s blog comments for a practical example of this need.)  Our familiar paths and methods serve us well, but can lead us into traps too.  Let’s make our lives a bit more like the good jokes than the bad ones shall we?

So I’ll leave you on a better one…

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are camping at night when Holmes nudges his colleague and says: “Tell me what you see.”

Watson ponders: “I see millions of stars.”

“What does that tell you?” says Holmes.

“That there are billions of galaxies and planets; that God is all powerful and that we are insignificant. Why, what does it tell you?”

“Watson, you idiot. Our tent has been stolen!”