The Levity Effect

Why It Pays to Lighten Up

By: Adrian Gostick, Scott Christopher

Narrated by: Scott Christopher

Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

The benefits of the levity effect are not conjecture but are built on extensive research and case studies from some of the world's most successful organizations. New York Times best-selling authors Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher provide powerful examples from Boeing, Nike, KPMG, Yamaha, Enterprise, Zappos, and dozens of others, showing how lightening up can drive real business results.

The book also outlines the extensive research into the subject - studies that cut against the grain of traditional business thinking - including compelling data from the Great Place to Work Institute's one-million-person database, which reveals that "Great" companies consistently earn significantly higher marks for "fun".

©2008 Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher Claflin (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Haha love it!

A very enjoyable book has has great science and great insight. We are already working to implement some of the suggestions in the org and personally.

Making work fun again

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. Anyone who works in a stressful job, or just in a place that could use some lightening up.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Not really applicable, so I'd have to say the narrator/author, Scott Christopher, who did a wonderful job.

Any additional comments?

I first became aware of this book through Scott Christopher's work on the TV show Granite Flats. Always looking to improve life in the work place I purchased this title, and am glad I did. It was a fun, enjoyable read, but more importantly were the ideas and concepts.

Even though I wasn't a manager I was still able to informally implement many of the suggestions as part of my team. This was especially helpful during high stress situations such as big software deployments.

I should insert a disclaimer, after buying the book my wife and Mr Christopher wound up becoming internet friends. I can say that he "practices what he preaches", providing appropriate amounts of levity to the world in his private and public life. This happened though after I was able to vet his book's ideas for myself.

Even if you are not a manager, I'd encourage this book if your work place is at all stressful (and let's face it, whose isn't these days). The ideas will help make your work a much more enjoyable place to be.

great reminder

Good, quick read for a leader struggling to get comfortable with levity and or any manager with a desire to make work more fun.

Good but repetitive

The book goes on and on about how having fun at work has all kinds of benefits. It even list some 120 or so suggestions.
If you already agree that you should have fun at work or you're a manager who tries to keep things light, there's not much value to this book b/c it says what you already agree with.
If you're a bit skeptical about the value of fun at work, then yeah, you should listen to this.
The narrator (and one of the authors) is very funny at times. Great job with the narration.

A Humor Home Run

This book is smart, fun, and funny--in that order. I found a lot to gain from the combination of well-researched data and practical ideas that the authors presented on lightening up the world of work. And having Scott Christopher narrate the book made this an almost must-HEAR version. I haven't tried reading it, but Christopher infuses so much fun in the narration that I now don't dare "try this at home" with a mere printed book.

The essential message is that not only is levity possible in the workplace, it ought to be mandatory. And there are innumerable ways to find and customize fun at work. The benefits start personal (lower stress, a more interesting life) and move to organizational (higher motivation and productivity). Where the authors stop is how levity could help us as a society. But once our levity fires are ignited, we can take it from there.

This is a unique and much-needed addition to the business book literature.

Very funny and helpful

I enjoyed this book, I laughed and I learned and it is free with plus and worth a listen

Note to all managers: Have fun at work

I was a little disappointmented with this management book. The first 4 or so hours of this book was mostly the authors saying "have fun" with a little bits of companies that implement programs for loosen up their staff.

I can definitely appreciate the things Gostick and Christopher brought to the table in this book. They have worked with lots of relavent and current companies that are known for both their success and their relaxed business environment. But they spent a large portion of the book talking about companies in creative fields, such as advertising and marketing.

In the last hour, the book finally moved into lots of ways to implement levity. The ideas were listed out which makes for tough listening. And the listening of the book was also made more difficult by the straight reading of the book. While I am sure the book was humorous, the narrator (one of the authors) read the words and did not "customize" it as an audio book. It made listening to some sections seem out of place in a book about humor - they should have lossened it up.

I just thought they weren't practicing what they preached.