

Ask HN: Sarcasm at Workplace - tablet

What do you think about sarcasm at work? Is it destructive? Or maybe it boosts creativity? What do you think?
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edwhitesell
As with outside the workplace, I think it depends on the people involved. I've
worked with a number of people who don't get sarcasm, or choose not to in the
workplace. I've seen sarcasm have a non-positive impact with those people.

However, interactions with my boss at my last employer ranged from sarcastic
to very dry (he probably has the most dry sense of humor of anyone I've ever
met). So that wildly swinging range of humor led to a fun workplace where we
were very productive.

It's definitely not for everyone.

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dmfdmf
Sarcasm in general is a destructive act and a type of passive aggressive
behavior. It generally arises when a person is unable or unwilling to overtly
express opposition or disagreement, so it comes up in the work environment
because of the inherent unequal power relation of a supervisor/manager vs
employee (at whatever level).

Mild or occasional use of sarcasm (even outside of the workplace) does not
necessarily signal a pathological environment. It can be used as a means to
express opposition without threatening the superior's authority and/or risking
one's job or power in the organization. However, if taken to the extreme or
used chronically it indicates disrespect for the superior or feelings of
powerlessness in the employee (which feelings may be unfounded or improper).

Not sure about its relation to creativity but overly sarcastic work
environments, I found, tend to stifle creativity but that is usually a
consequence of bad management not anything particular to sarcasm, i.e. sarcasm
can be a symptom of a toxic work environment.

