Article:

For two and a half years, I worked in the Internet Department of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. We were young, tech-savvy folks who could have worked at dotcoms but instead chose to work for an aging evangelist. The job had its share of stress—crashing servers, last-minute changes, and webmaster emails from people who didn't know how to copy and paste.

We coped—in part—thanks to humor.

There were the Monday mornings when laughter would spread like the plague through our department. You could almost tell when the latest flash-animated cartoon had been released on HomestarRunner.com and nearly everyone in our department would pause to watch the disgruntled StrongBad answer his latest email in typical mocking style.

Then there was the hip-hop mix featuring a beat from gospel artist Kirk Franklin behind the well-timed words of the world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham urging sinners to come down and receive Jesus Christ. The spoken-word rap cobbled together by some of the radio guys was never officially approved—but we still loved it.

When upper management introduced a new stricter and more formal dress code, our department responded by opening the Tie-brary, a lending library of neckties for our male coworkers who lacked this vital component of the dress code. Featuring an array of garage sale and Goodwill ties, the Tie-brary included a tie for every conceivable outfit and decade (taste and fashion sense not included).

When Apple released the U2 iPod, some on our staff dreamed of something more: The Billy Graham iPod.

There even exists a video of out-takes from an interview with a certain Christian musician. Edited with the journalistic integrity of a reality TV show, the clip strung together the musician's diva moments like little bombs: the faces, the pouts, the voices—the little dog she brought to the interview. We laughed so hard we cried.

OK, so some of these didn't happen on company time. And firings may have happened if others ever saw the light of day (thankfully those involved no longer work there, so I feel free to share these vague details). But it shows the vibe in our workplace where laughter was welcome.

It helped that our manager let it happen. She didn't necessarily encourage the watching of Internet cartoons during work hours, but she didn't clamp down on the hilarity (unless, of course, it got out of hand). She liked to laugh herself and perhaps knew that laughter was key to both creativity and stress-relief, two things our department needed on a daily basis.

There is a time to be serious and get honest work done. But there's also a time to laugh, as a wise guy once said (Eccl. 3:4).

And so instead of a stuffy, stifling workplace, we had one of laughter, joy, and —consequently— productivity. Laughter is good for you, both mentally and physically (and I'd wager spiritually as well), and it helps you do your job better. A smart leader will realize that and leave room for a little humor. Despite the goofiness, we accomplished a lot in those short years, helping to push an analog ministry into the digital era.