I was running a job meeting yesterday for a project that’s had all sorts of challenges, yet the progress on site amazed me. The Superintendent has gotten all the trades working together in ways that exceed my project schedule and my expectations. It’s great to see guys shifting around on the jobsite work flow to be efficient and keep things moving. The job meeting was a pleasure as we all laughed about several items and addressed some concerns.

I started thinking about the value of humor on the job site. A good laugh lubricates social interactions, making everything run more smoothly. So inject some humor into your work today. Understand that humor has risks and try not to cross the line. But if the choice is do nothing or get a bit closer to the line than you’re comfortable with, nudge yourself toward that line.

The Economist had a tongue in cheek piece a few years ago addressing the “Problem” of children. They made the economic argument that smoking, driving and mobile phones all cause “Negative Externalities”…a situation where  those around the smoker, driver or loud phone talker were negatively impacted (annoyed) by the experience. The article went on to say:

Governments typically respond to such market failures in two ways. One is higher taxes, to make polluters pay the full cost of their anti-social behaviour. The other is regulation, such as emission standards or bans on smoking in public places. Both approaches might work for children.

For children, just like cigarettes or mobile phones, clearly impose a negative externality on people who are near them. Anybody who has suffered a 12-hour flight with a bawling baby in the row immediately ahead or a bored youngster viciously kicking their seat from behind, will grasp this as quickly as they would love to grasp the youngster’s neck. Here is a clear case of market failure: parents do not bear the full costs (indeed young babies travel free), so they are too ready to take their noisy brats with them. Where is the invisible hand when it is needed to administer a good smack?

The article went on to propose “Child-free zones” in airports, trains, bus stations, etc and advocated for a tax on children. Two weeks later, in the letters to the editor section, Jessica Morley age 6 responded:

Sir, you are wrong when you say that children are like cigarettes or mobile telephones. No one has to smoke or use a mobile phone, but everyone has to be a child and you were once one too. You need children to pay for the pensions of miserable old people like you.

Now pick on someone your own sise.

Yours,

Jessica Morley (aged 6)