No Laughing Matter

In the pantheon of the young business executive, there are gods of success, diligence, alertness, punctuality, timing and memo writing. But, alas, there is none for humor. That is the finding of Richard J. Cronin, who heads an executive search firm in Rosemont, Ill. Cronin polled 480 chief executive officers to ask: "Have you found that younger executives (under 35) with MBA degrees have a greater or lesser sense of humor than others?" The vast majority of those responding checked lesser.

Why? Heightened seriousness among young people in general since the 1960s seems to be one reason for this dour attitude. But at least part of the blame lies with business schools. While most of the 170 business-school deans also polled by Cronin acknowledged that there was probably a correlation between humor and executive success, they generally agreed that their institutions were turning out men and women who were more tough-minded. Said Ralph Benedict Jr., the owner of a lamp company in Philadelphia: "How true it is. Humor is a lost commodity in today's world. Guess we have to wait for the Japanese to export it."

As executives get older and more mature, Cronin says, they gain confidence and perspective, along with a little humor. Chrysler Chairman Lee lacocca, whose job is hardly a barrel of laughs these days, quipped when a shareholder asked him to comment on his self-imposed $1 a year salary: "Oh, don't worry. I spend it very carefully." Says Cronin: "From what I've seen of him, Iacocca has a sense of humor. God help him if he doesn't." Cronin believes that young executives who show no humor are missing an important lesson. Success in any field depends on influencing others, and wit is still one of the best tools around for doing that.

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