The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Author: Alexander

  • The happy car wash

    I don’t actually own a car but if I did, I’d get it washed here EVERY time.

  • Our 2nd International Partner Meetup was a blast

    Last week we invited our Woohoo Inc Partners to Copenhagen for the second international partner meetup and let me just get this out of the way: These people ROCK.

    20 partners from 9 countries made the trek to cold and snowy Copenhagen for two days of fun, learning and knowledge sharing.

    I am completely blown away by the amazing work they do all over the world promoting happiness at work and by the passion and smarts they bring to the table.

    ROCK ON, partners!

  • The value of a happy team

    In this video gymnast Katelyn Ohashi scores a perfect 10 for her floor routine. But while her skills are amazing, my favorite thing in this video is how happy and engaged the rest of the team standing in the background are.

    They celebrate when she sticks a landing and even do some of her moves along with her.

    What couldn’t you do with that kind of support and energy around you!

  • Happy construction worker

    Even when your job is literally to stand in the street and hold a sign, you can find ways to be happy at work :)

  • Worst. Comment. Ever :)

    One of my most popular articles is this one on Why “The Customer is Always Right” is Wrong.

    I have gotten so many supportive comments from retail employees who have been treated badly by rude customers and received no support from their managers, who hide behind this tired maxim.

    Of course not everyone agrees. Here’s a comment I got a few days ago:

    BS!!! BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE CUSTOMER
    HAS THE MONEY.
    THATS THE GOLDEN RULE…
    HE WHO HAS THE GOLD MAKES THE RULE!!!

    That’s hilarious :) It’s also the perfect expression of the entitled attitude that the worst customers use to justify their horrible behavior. Having money gives you NO license to treat others badly.

  • 10 crucial questions to ask about your job at the start of a new year

    10 crucial questions to ask about your job at the start of a new year

    The beginning of a new year is a great time to take stock of your work life. Were you happy or unhappy at work? What would you like to change?

    It’s important to evaluate because how you feel at work has such a large influence on you at work AND at home. When you’re happy at work, you have better job performance and more career success. You also have better health and a happier private life.

    Unfortunately most people look back and think exclusively in terms of what went wrong. The things they should have done. They goals they ought to have achieved. The progress that didn’t come.

    We gain much of our happiness at work (and in life) by appreciating the good things we have and do. Sure, you should also make sure to improve your circumstances and address any problems but it is just as important to be able to appreciate the things that do work.

    This is hard. Negativity bias is one of the most well-established psychological phenomena and it means quite simply that our minds devote more mental focus and cognition to the bad than the good. Our thoughts automatically go to problems, annoyances, threats and fears but remembering and appreciating the good in our lives takes effort and focus.

    We think you can achieve much more by turning that around 180 degrees, so here’s our suggestion for a little new year’s exercise in happiness at work.

    Think back at your work life in 2018 and answer the following 10 questions. It works best if you take some time to think about each question and if you write down your answers.

    1. What went really well for you at work in 2018?
    2. What did you do that you were proud of?
    3. Who did you make a difference for at work?
    4. What new skills have you learned professionally?
    5. How have you grown and developed personally at work?
    6. Who has helped you out at work in 2018?
    7. Who have you admired professionally?
    8. Which 5 things from your work life in 2018 would you like more of in 2019?
    9. Which 5 things from your work life in 2018 would you like less of in 2019?
    10. What will you specifically do to become happier at work in 2019?

    Some people think that they must work hard to become successful – and that success will make them happy. The truth is the opposite: being happy makes you more effective and successful at work.

    So this year, make happiness at work your #1 career goal – because being happy at work will make you more successful in your career.

    And that may require some tough decisions. If you find that you’re just not happy at work, maybe it’s time to find a new job. Fortunately, International Quit Your Crappy Job Day is just around the corner.

    I wish you a very happy new year at work!

  • 2018 – our most international year ever

    2018 – our most international year ever

    2018 has been our awesomest year yet, not to mention our most international year ever :) It’s pretty stunning to see the change that a small Danish company has been able to inspire in workplaces all over the world. Here are some highlights from our 2018 at Woohoo inc – and let us just take this chance to wish you an incredibly happy 2019!

    50 countries!!!

    In November I spoke to 1,000 government managers and executives at a conference in Ottawa. That was our first ever speech in Canada, and that means that we have now spoken in 50 countries around the world. You can see the whole list here.

    Partners in 29 countries

    We now have partner companies using our tools and methods in 29 countries! We could not be prouder of the AMAZING work they are doing all over the world, including:

    International survey on good days at work

    Together with our partners we conducted an international survey to find out how often people have a good day at work and what makes it a good day. We collected data from 2,500 workers around the world and you can see the results here.

    New book: Leading With Happiness

      Our latest book Leading With Happiness is getting rave reviews and is currently being translated into Danish and Arabic.

    Conference

    In May we held our 9th Conference on Happiness at Work and it was truly our best one yet. You can see all the talks here. The audience favorite was Garry Ridge, the CEO of WD-40 Company, who shared how a happy culture has made his company a global success.

    Sold-out CHO Academy in Copenhagen

    Our most recent Chief Happiness Officer Academy in Copenhagen was a huge hit and completely sold out with a long waiting list.

    15th company anniversary party

    Woohoo inc has been in business since 2003 and we celebrated our company’s 15th birthday with an EPIC Great Gatsby themed party.

  • Garry Ridge: Don’t be a soul-sucking CEO

    Garry Ridge is the CEO of WD-40 Company and believes that effective leadership is about making people happy.

    In this clip from his talk at our conference on happiness at work, he talks about the other kind of leader: The soul-sucking CEO.

    If you like it, watch the whole speech here.

  • Workplace happiness is taking the world by storm. Here’s why.


    Workplaces all over the world focus more and more on happiness. In this short video from my opening talk at the Happiness@Work conference in Prague I talk about why.

  • This Danish CEO did something AWESOME for his staff at Christmas

    Søren Steffensen, The CEO of Danish supermarket chain Irma, has a simple philosophy: The employees come first.

    He also knows that Christmas is the busiest time of year for his people, so he is currently on a tour where he and his top leaders visit all 80 stores to meet the staff, drum up some energy and personally hand out Christmas presents to their people.

    What a great thing for a top executive to take time to do, to show people that they’re valued.

    The above pic is from one of the Copenhagen stores, where he found the actual, genuine, real Santa Claus behind the register :)

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