The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Category: Happy Hour is 9 to 5

  • Fighting cancer with happiness

    DKMS_HappyHour
    The staff of Delete Blood Cancer with their brand new copies of Happy Hour is 9 to 5. WOOHOO!

    I recently spoke about happiness at work in New York and after the event, one attendee sent me this email:

    Thanks for coming to speak to the group in New York last month. Glad I got the chance to finally meet you after reading your blog for so many years.

    When I got back to work the next day, I told my department about your talk and showed them some of the videos on your site. My boss, inspired by the overall message of Arbejdsglaede and amused by the hand-drawn video, bought a copy of your book for everyone in our group. Here is a photo of us with our crisp new copies!

    Most of us are quite new, as our company is growing fast. We’re hoping to build a happy, productive workplace and will be using your book as one of the prime resources. Hopefully, we’ll soon develop a reputation as a great place to work, in addition to being known for the word we do [matching bone marrow donors to Leukemia patients in need].

    Thanks for all you do, keep up the good work.

    And right back at ya, Prescott!

    I recently did an interview about happiness at work in non-profits. Sadly I’ve found that while the work people do there is often very rewarding and meaningful, they are not always very happy workplaces.

    You can read more about Delete Blood Cancer and the amazing work they do here. I highly urge you to check it out and to register as a donor today. You could save someone’s life.

  • “Happy Hour is 9 to 5” e-book is free in Portuguese

    Happiness at work

    I recently spoke in Portugal at the amazing Talks 2.0 conference on Happiness and Creativity in the Workplace.

    At the event I announced that I would release the Portuguese translation of my first book “Happy Hour is 9 to 5” as a free e-book. Consider this my tiny contribution to workplace happiness and economic recovery in Portugal.

    So here it is – it’s a completely free and unprotected pdf which you may copy and send to as many people as you like.

    > Click here to get the book.

    Feel free to copy it far and wide:

    • Send it to everyone you know who is sad, frustrated or unhappy at work.
    • Send it to every manager who’d like to help create a happier and more successful workplace.
    • Send it to any politicians you know, so that they can help create better conditions for workplace happiness.
    • Send it to any journalists you know so they can help spread the message.

    I’m releasing it under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

    This means that you may not change the e-book or make money off of it. Apart from that, go wild :o)

    Happy reading – and please let me know how you like it in a comment here.

  • A mind map for Happy Hour is 9 to 5

    Billy Waters, a loyal reader, composed this mind map of my first book, Happy Hour is 9 to 5:


    Click image for full size

    Thanks Billy – it’s much appreciated :o)

  • Well-read

    I gave a presentation yesterday here in Copenhagen and one participant showed up with this:

    It’s my first book (Happy Hour is 9 to 5) in Danish – and that’s what I call a well-read copy :o)

  • Get my book in Chinese


    Click for full size.

    Not only is my book coming out in Portuguese soon, it is now available in Chinese!!!

    Click here to get it:

    Here’s a poster describing the book:

    Happy Hour is 9 to 5 in Chinese
    click image for full size…

  • Help me choose a cover

    My first book Happy Hour is 9 to 5 is coming out in Portuguese soon and I need your help to pick the cover.

    Here are the three suggestions that they’ve cooked up:

    1:
    cover3

    2:
    cover4

    3:
    cover1

    What’s your favorite and why? Please write a comment.

    You can read more about the book here. It’s already out in English, Spanish, Chinese, Dutch and Danish.

  • Guess what my book’s about

    I ran the text of my first book Happy Hour is 9 to 5 through Wordle – this amazing site that let’s you do a word cloud on any text – and this is the result I got:

    Happy Hour is 9 to 5
    (Click image for full size)

    I’d say that gives you a pretty precise idea of what my book’s about :o) I stole the idea from my buddy Steve Shapiro, who did the same thing for his Little Book if Big Innovation Ideas.

    I’m currently working on my second book, which will be out soon. I’ll reveal the topic in a new blogpost very soon. Stay tuned.

  • Happy Hour is 9 to 5 – in Chinese!!!

    My book is coming out in Chinese in January – I’m totally psyched about it!

    My Chinese publisher just sent me the cover design. Feast your eyes on this:


    Click for full size.

    My sense is that China needs some happiness at work bad! The success of Chinese businesses in terms of growth and profits can’t be denied but not many people actually seem to enjoy what they do.

    What’s your take? Does China need a little happiness at work? Can it even be done, considering current typical working conditions as well as China’s unique culture and history?

  • My book is now available in Dutch: Happy Hour is van 9 tot 5

    Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay – my two favorite Ernos (that’s Erno Mijland and Erno Hannink) just announced that the Dutch version of my book Happy Hour is 9 to 5 is now out.

    You can buy it on paper, as a pdf e-book or you can read it free on line.

    There’s also an excellent accompanying blog in Dutch about happiness at work.

    And incidentally, I’m coming to Holland to give a presentation on November 5 this year at Thoughts on Happiness Symposium in Baarn. Read all about it and sign up here.

    Other versions of the book:

  • First review of my book in Danish

    Happy Hour fra 8 til 16My first book came out in Danish last week and the very first review gives it 5 stars out of 6 and has this to say besides:

    …will certainly inspire employees and managers…

    Alexander Kjerulf gives a clear picture of what happiness at work is and how it happens when we get great results and surround ourselves with pleasant co-workers.

    The book’s strength lies in the enthusiasm and sincerity it is obviously written on. A quick and useful read.

    I’m incredibly proud of the review by new Danish career magazine for Women CV. They. Not only do they warmly recommend the book but they understand and appreciate the light (dare I say happy) tone I chose for the book.

    If you’d like to read my book in Danish it’s in the shops now or you can get it online for 199 DKK.

    The book is also out in English and in Spanish:

    Dutch, Indonesian and Chinese translations are coming in 2008.

    I’d like to see the book published in even more countries and especially in more English-speaking countries. Do you know any publishers in, say, Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, or…? Write a comment or contact me if you’d like to help me with this.