The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Category: Change

How to create positive and effective change at work and in life.

  • Book review: The tipping point

    Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push – in just the right place – it can be tipped.

    This is how Malcolm Gladwell ends his book The tipping point, subtitled “how little things can make a big difference”. Throughout the book Gladwell examines the circumstances in which large scale change can be brought about by a small effort. From the explosive succes og Hush Puppies (a brand of shoes) to a wave of suicides that plagued Micronesia. From the success of Sesame Street to a syphilis epidemic in Boston in the 90’s.

    Gladwell argues that this sort of change is much more common than we usually acknowledge, and that it is possible because of three factors, the three rules of the tipping point.
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  • Breaking barriers

    I have spent this weekend breaking barriers at the DSN course held by the art of living. The DSN course is for people who want to create a better society. These people need to be able to rise above their own limitations, and to willingly go into situations that are unknown, uncertain, frustrating or scary.

    And after three days of non-stop activity (every day the course lasted from 6 in the morning til 11 at night) I can safely say that my comfort zone has been expanded vastly. My biggest realization at the course was, that for me the fear is not in the doing – it’s in the hesitation. As long as I’m procrastinating, wondering “Should I do it? Will it work?” I’m afraid. As soon as I start actually doing it (whatever “it” is), the fear is gone. I’m already applying this in my daily work, and this makes some things easier.

  • Book review: Crossings

    This book by Richard A. Heckler, subtitled “A New Psychology of the Unexpected”, is about change in a big way. It’s about those events that have the powert to totally transform your life. The events can be big or small, trivial or life-threatening, mystical or practical, but they fundamentally alter the people to whom they happen.

    The strongest feature of the book is quite simply actual stories of this happening. Told partially in the words of the people involved and partially by the author, these stories are downright gripping. From Karl, a former drug dealer turned minister, to Rebecca who discovers her strengths and leadership abilities on board a small boat close to sinking in a ferocious storm.
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  • Acts of hope

    One of my new friends, Filiz from Turkey, sent me a link to a very interesting article on activism. The main point that the article makes is that activism is for the long term. You can’t expect immediate results that clearly follow from your actions. You need to look at long term results,

    Also, you’re not saving the world. Here’s my favourite quote from the article:

    History is like weather, not like checkers. A game of checkers ends. The weather never does. That’s why you can’t save anything. Saving is the wrong word. Jesus saves and so do banks: they set things aside from the flux of earthly change. We never did save the whales, though we might’ve prevented them from becoming extinct. We will have to continue to prevent that as long as they continue not to be extinct.

    Brilliant stuff, read it!

  • Yes, and…

    Lately I’ve been using a very simple but VERY powerful method called “yes, and…”. This method comes from improvisational theater, where it is the most basic rule. When you’re on the stage doing improv theatre, every idea proposed by another actor must always be accepted. You can add to it, but you can’t reject it – and you’d look pretty foolish on the stage if you tried. Hence the “Yes, and…”

    But “yes, and…” can be used in many other situations, and mainly it can be used to counter the ingrained tendency to say no, that many people today exhibit, particularly when pressed or stressed. It’s often safer , easier and more comfortable to say no.

    One case where “yes, and…” works especially well is when brainstorming for ideas. When people know in advance, that any idea proposed will be received positively, they feel much more free to suggest any ideas they may have. In this way you get many more ideas to work with. Ultimately, “yes, and…” can teach us a positive and healthy attitude of saying yes to life, and to whatever reality surrounds us.

    More info here and here. Try it!

  • Synergic rule

    I found a very interesting article by Timothy Wilken about synergic wealth and synergic rule. It examines the idea, that we would all be much wealthier if we pooled our resources instead of fighting over them. I can certainly agree to that.

    Then it goes on to explore synergic rule or synocracy. This is a form of rule that is not based on majority decisions. Instead matters are discussed by all involved parties, and no decision is made, untill everybody is comfortable with the decision. The key point is, that if a decision entails a loss to somebody, that loss should be acknowledged and shared by everybody.

    I find the idea extremely inspiring, and it repeats some themes from a few of my favourite books of late, namely Margaret Wheatley’s A simpler way and Tor Nørretranders’ Det generøse menneske. The former focuses on a new world view based on cooperation rather than competition, while the latter studies the origin and function of generosity in humans.

  • Book review: What should I do with my life?

    Good question, huh? What exactly should you do with your life? Where is that one job that will make your life eternally happy and remove all doubt about whether you’ve made the right choice?

    Well, Po Bronson has talked to a lot of people who have faced that very question, and he has some good news and some bad news for us in this book.
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  • Helping africa help itself

    Approtec have it right. They “grew tired of seeing millions of dollars wasted on unsustainable projects that created dependency, competed with the local private sector and crushed entrepreneurial drive”, according to this article. They help instead by enabling local companies to design and manufacture products that make a difference. Their biggest seller so far is the Money Maker, a pedal-driven water pump capable of irrigating two acres of land.
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  • Restoring nature, restoring yourself

    Here’s an article about a seriously ill ex-soldier in Seattle, who decided to spend his last days cleaning up a creek near his home. During that project he got better, and today he works with many other people to restore the environment around Seattle.

    This is a beautiful example of helping yourself by doing something for others, in this case for nature. Sometimes the best way to help yourself is to forget yourself.

  • Book review: Playful approaches to serious problems

    So, why on earth am I reading a book about child therapy? First of all, therapy is all about change. You have a problem, you need to change, therapy is one potential tool, and therapy contains many potentially useful methods for promoting change. And one of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is the need for constant change. It’s almost a clich? to say it, but it remains true.

    Secondly, I discovered the concept of narrative therapy on the net, while netresearching therapy, and it seemed really interesting for a number of reasons.
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