Why aren't businesses more fun?

Or why humour can drive profits

So there I was checking the catering before the passengers came on board, when I heard shouting and a few choice words from the first class cabin.

I ran to the front to find the Captain covered in tea, looking ghostly white with just the noise of the empty cup rattling in the saucer.  As I turned to look where his eyes were staring I could see our Purser curled up in the hat rack looking rather pleased with himself.

It turned out the Purser decided to hide in the hat rack and close the lid.  The first class Stewardess knew he was in there.  When the Captain came on board she gave him a cup of tea whilst he did his preflight checks.  She pretended she needed help opening the hat rack, so the skipper obliged.  As he did so an arm appeared from above to shake his hand accompanied by the immortal words “Hello sir, my name is John Smith, I am your purser on this trip”.  At which point the skipper threw his tea in the air and called him names that sounded nothing like John Smith.

The Captain was so shaken the First Officer had to fly the aeroplane.

This was the start of the funniest 2-week trip of my whole life.  At any given moment our Purser would invent the most hilarious tricks to play on the crew.  It was non-stop.  I had permanent face-ache from laughing so much.

I clearly remember one of the girls laying on her back on a first class trolley, eyes closed, covered in paper napkins splashed with tomato ketchup, holding a knife as if sticking out of her stomach.  He then pushed her through all the cabins.  The passenger’s shocked faces immediately turned into tear stained laughter.  They loved every one of his antics.

The crew was the happiest bunch I ever met and fell over themselves to give great customer service. 

We came home to a suitcase full of complimentary letters, even if the management wasn’t best pleased, but it’s a good job they didn’t know everything!   Those letters made it clear that we had achieved an excellent standard of customer satisfaction to the point of customer loyalty.

I learnt a lot from that trip.  I learnt that those afraid of flying felt a whole lot better when they laughed.  I learnt that the crew worked as the perfect dream team when happy.   I learnt that flight delays and missed connections became insignificant when fun was on the agenda.

I now understand the psychology and neuroscience behind all this, and enjoy explaining it to companies.  That said, we are all guilty of taking our businesses and ourselves too seriously.  It’s far more profitable to lighten up a little and enjoy what we do.