Smiling, Laughing, and Blow-out Diapers

By Ron Pereira Updated on February 17th, 2009

A friend, who’ll stay nameless since it involves a family member of his, recently told the story of how his 8 month old child threw-up on him, smiled, laughed and then had a blow-out diaper.

How’s that for imagery?

Well, my friend went on to say how he learned a valuable lesson from his child’s happy response to adversity.

Now I know the imagery of this story is less than appealing, especially to those of you without kids. But, this story really does teach us grown-ups a valuable lesson if you ask me.

He Smiled

My friend’s child obviously felt bad or they wouldn’t have been throwing up… yet they smiled. So no matter how bad your day, week, month, or year has been try to smile more. It can’t hurt.

He Laughed

Likewise even though this poor child’s tummy obviously felt terrible… they looked up at their Daddy and laughed.

In other words, quit being so serious all the time. When you’re running your next kaizen event or teaching your next class or spending time with your family… loosen up and laugh. It’s not so hard. Oh, and it’ll also help you smile more.

Don’t Worry

And, no, I won’t attempt to tie in how the blow-out diaper can help us be better people.

But I will say that the next time life throws you some lemons perhaps you can replay this story in your mind as you twist those face muscles of yours ever so slightly… and smile.

Come on. Let’s try it. Smile. Come on… you can do it. Now give me a little smile. That’s better. Now laugh. See? It works doesn’t it?

Ron Pereira

Ron has more than 20 years of experience in various manufacturing, supply chain, and senior leadership roles. Ron has held the titles of process engineer, engineering manager, master black belt, and director of manufacturing & continuous improvement. In 2002 Ron was the first American to win the Nokia Global Six Sigma and Overall Quality award in Helsinki, Finland. Ron holds a bachelor's degree in automated manufacturing and an MBA in technology management.

Mark Welch
June 8, 2010 - 9:37 am
Reply

I saw this on your “related posts” below the Jim Joyce article. It’s been 15+ years since my kids were in diapers, but your message in this is well-stated. I can recall my oldest son having a blow-out diaper and I was rolling on the floor laughing while my friend, who at the time was childless, was half smiling and half grossed out.

Yes, we’ve got to see the humor in many situations where we normally wouldn’t or we’d go nuts. Also, I think it can loosen up (pardon the pun) the team and help them perform a little better – more relaxed. Sure is important to know your audience/team to decide whether or not it’s the right time to let that humor out!!! Good emotional intelligence/judgment is the key…