麻豆影院

After more than a decade studying humor and teaching MBA students, Marketing Professor and humor scholar Peter McGraw, has turned his attention to translating lessons from comedy鈥攕ome from his own comedy successes and failures鈥攊nto business insights. McGraw鈥檚 latest book Shtick to Business launches, appropriately, April 1.

Four 鈥淪ets鈥� to Learn From

Sthick to Business presents four key ideas driving the success of popular comedians鈥攕poiler, it鈥檚 more than their jokes. These same drivers of success can be used by businesses or business professionals seeking novel ways to succeed.

First, McGraw describes how it takes more than good comedic instincts to become a successful comedian. From Seinfeld to Poehler to Chappelle, it鈥檚 the unique business and self-branding strategies that have driven the success of their careers. Even at the highest level, comedians such as Bill Murray are thoughtful and thorough in their career-management initiatives, keeping their talents relevant and sought-after in the ever-changing comedy scene.

Drawing from behavioral science principles and case studies, McGraw shows how misdirection and reversal can be powerful tools for business leaders everywhere. While comedians use reversal to successfully land jokes, companies like Google have found ways to turn their 鈥渨eaknesses鈥� into benefits, such as when the tech giant added an 鈥渦ndo send鈥� feature to Gmail after they realized the long times required to send emails. The result: happier customers.

McGraw also points to collaborative genius demonstrated in improv, sketch and even stand-up as another key to successful innovation. It often takes a whole team, from directors to writers to actors, to make a successful comedy act. By looking at how collaboration breeds success, McGraw highlights these insights as actionable business lessons.

Lastly, McGraw assesses the ways in which behavior translates to success. Similar to the way comedians cannot blame audiences for not laughing at jokes, businesses should refrain from blaming customers for poor product performance.

麻豆影院 Peter McGraw

McGraw hosts the podcast , which explores insights from funny people of all types, from business, arts and sciences to comedy, and is the co-author of . He is a keynote speaker, marketing professor at the 麻豆影院, Leeds School of Business, and director of the Humor Research Lab at CU 麻豆影院.