James Bond has faced down many fearsome villains. There was Goldfinger and his groin-slicing laser, Jaws and his metallic braces, the odd one with the bowler hat. 007 saw them all off. Except for one. The bald bloke with the rockets. Otherwise known as Jeff Bezos. In a head-to-head battle between the billionaire Amazon boss and the trustees of the Bond...
At Laughology, one of the things we’re experts in is the use of appropriate humour. Humour can be an effective tool in most scenarios - if used properly. However, there are times when humour is not appropriate. A case in point. I’m writing this blog on Holocaust Remembrance Day. It will not be funny. Today, of all days, I can’t...
Why do people get worked up about end-of-year reviews? No one really enjoys performance reviews. We all go into them with a sense of trepidation, maybe because evolution has given us a bias towards negativity and defensiveness. Millions of years ago, it paid to be wary, what with predators and competing tribes. It’s why research shows that we remember negative experiences...
Famously, Brits will dance around a sensitive subject to the point of absurdity rather than have a direct conversation about it. It’s one of the national traits that define us, like a stiff upper lip and Wetherspoons. I’ve noticed it’s also a habit that becomes more pronounced the further south you go. In the north, where I’m from, people will generally tell...
It couldn’t have been any clearer. "I’m out of the office until August 13th and will not be replying to emails." I even left specific instructions: if it’s urgent, please contact one of the two team members whose email addresses were linked in the message. Simple, right? So why did some people think it was appropriate to ignore my OoO and...
Who cares about poop in The Seine, naked Smurfs at the Last Supper or whether break dancing is an Olympic sport or not? The 2024 Paris Games were a joyous spectacle of international sport, providing us with arguably the coolest contestant in Olympic history, South Korean sharpshooter Kim Yeji and her ice-cold, bad-ass energy. There were many highlights, but one Olympian,...
According to Forbes Magazine, ‘few personal brands shine as brightly as Taylor Swift’s’. And as someone with a special interest in personal brand, I’ve been determined to follow her example while she’s been in the UK. The pop singer has been Time Magazine's Person of the Year and CNN’s Businessperson of the Year, after all, and I was The Liverpool Echo’s New Comedian of...
Earlier this month, it was reported that, after years of worrying about oestrogen setting off their fire alarm, the Garrick Club, that bastion of entitled male privilege, has finally voted to allow women members. It has been hailed as a victory for equal opportunities. But is it? Are we missing the bigger picture here? After all, the whole concept of...
Pulling a sickie is part of workplace culture. Who hasn’t psyched themself up for the 9am phone call to the boss and explained in your best deathbed croak that you won’t be in today because you’ve suddenly come down with a ‘nasty bug’, which miraculously clears up the following day? Currently, sick notes, or fit notes, to give them their official...
