The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Category: Happy At Work

How to be happy at work

  • My favorite books about happiness at work

    Alexander KjerulfOver the last 4 years, I must have read some 3-400 books related to happiness at work, and the ones listed here are the ones that have truly inspired me, moved me and made me think. They’re also all well written and a pleasure to read. Enjoy!

    Hal Rosenbluth: The customer comes second
    The story of a company that put its employees first and got amazing results from it.

    Timothy Gallwey: The inner game of work
    The most inspiring approach to learning at work I have ever seen.

    Harrison Owen: Open Space Technology
    Explains Open Space Meetings – the most insanely efficient and fun meeting form I have ever tried. For 10-1000 people. From 3 hours to 5 days.

    Peter Block : The answer to how is yes
    Whenever we start a new project, most of us go straight to “How?” But the right place to start is to ask “Why?” If you can’t find a reason that makes you go “Yes!” you probably shouldn’t do it.

    Kevin and Jackie Freiberg: Nuts!
    The story of Southwest Airlines, one of the happiest and most successful companies I know. A classic book!

    Paul Watzlawick: Change
    When do people change and when do they actively resist change? This book has some amazing knowledge on the paradoxical nature of personal change. One of my all-time favorites.

    Robert Wright: Non zero
    The world is becoming better and better. It pays to be nice. Those who cooperate are more efficient than those who compete. This book has many positive messages, all backed up by science. It’s also a great read.

    Ricardo Semler: The Seven-Day Weekend
    The story of Semco, the Brazilian company where workers choose their own salaries, work hours and managers. If you only read one book about happiness at work, make it this one.

    The Lazy Way to Success
    If work feels hard, you’re not doing it right. Fred Gratzon, entrepreneur and millionaire, explains why it always pays to be lazy.

    Martin Seligman: Learned Optimism
    Seligman explains Positive Psychology, why positive people lead better lives and how to learn to be positive.

    Richard Layard: Happiness, Lessons from a new Science
    How could you run a nation, based on making people as happy as possible? Interestingy, Layard is currently advising British politicians on this.

    David L. Cooperrider, Diana Whitney and Jacqueline M. Starvos: The Appreciative Inquiry Handbook
    Appreciative Inquiry is the most efficient tool I know for creating efficient, positive change in organizations and this book explains it simply.

    Tim Sanders: Love is the Killer App
    Explains why love, not greed or fear, is the most powerful force in business.

    Annette Simmons: The Story Factor
    The best book I know about applying storytelling in the business world.

    Richard Reeves: Happy Mondays
    You would never accept a romantic relationship that was “sort of OK??? or stay with a spouse who is “you know, nothing special, but I’m used to him/her???. So why should you accept anything less than true fulfillment on the job?

    Alfie Kohn: No contest
    Competition is everywhere in the business world, but contrary to popular belief, competition makes us less efficient and less happy.

    There are many more book reviews on the blog – more than a hundred in fact.

  • Christmas links

    I’m taking a short blogging break over Christmas and will be back at my browser on Wednesday the 28th. LinksIf you’re looking for some great reading about happiness at work over the holidays, here are some excellent blogposts.

    Bob Sutton has evidence that smiling makes you happy and likable as Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project claimed. It’s one of those “of course it’s true, but it’s still really nice to have studies backing it up” deals.

    David Maister tells the story of a truly courageous leader, “Jay Bertram, president of the TBWA office in Toronto, who asked his people to evaluate him and offered to resign if he did not improve how well he performed his role as their leader.”

    The Slacker Manager tells us how to write holiday cards to staff. “My ink-stained fingers are evidence of the labor of the last four hours. Only fifteen cards to show for it, but each is different and personal (no “Good job, Bob??? here).” It’s too late for this Christmas (unless you’re a really last-minute kind of person), but there are some great tips there.

    The Brazen Careerist thinks financial freedom is outdated and that we should go with optimism instead. “HELLO???? Can everyone standing in line to buy a Lear Jet please get a reality check? You do not need a plane to be happy, you need a plane to go visit the people who make you happy. A jet is not an expression of financial freedom. It’s an expression of your decision to not live near the people who mean the most to you.”

    Stephen Shapiro has a great post on allowing yourself to feel the pain in your life. “In college, I made this mix tape, aptly titled “The Depression Tape.??? It had the sappiest, saddest music you could imagine, containing nearly every song performed by Bread, Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful to Me,??? and Elton John’s sadder songs. You get the point.”

    Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace interviews some weirdo who calls himself The Chief Happiness Officer. Sheeeeesh, there are some strange people out there.

    And here are some great articles about happiness at work:
    Kenny Moore Held a Funeral to mark his company’s transition to a new organization. “When it was over, the CFO said to me, “You have some set of balls. Nobody but you could have gotten away with this.” But I didn’t feel like I had been very brave. People are dying to be connected, invited, involved. They don’t like having things shoved down their throats in a formulaic way. They show energy and commitment when they can be players and influence an initiative’s outcome.”

    Why we evolved altruism 12.000 years ago. “If an individual defended the group but was killed, any genes that the individual shared with the overall group would still be passed on.”

    How economists measure happiness. “Happiness is a big question both for researchers and for policy wonks these days, so it is slightly discomfiting to reflect that people may not even know the answer to the simple question, ‘Are you happy?’”

  • Quote

    Work should always be fun for all colleagues. We all only have one life. A third of life is work. Without desire and fun, work becomes hell.

    – Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA

  • A question for ya: Losing a job you love

    QuestionOn my post about Liking vs. loving your job, Love Lost asks:

    I had a job that I loved, I worked hard, loved what I did, did well with the people I worked with. But then the 18 month contract ran out and I can’t go back for six months and they can’t make me a permanent employee.

    So what do you do when you lose a job you love and take a job you may hate?

    That’s a really good question. What would you do? Write a comment, I’d really like to know!

  • Why “Motivation by Pizza” Doesn’t Work

    Motivation

    My store manager implemented an embarrassing (and happily short-lived) safety incentive: Employees caught violating safety procedure were immediately given a two-foot rubber chicken on a string to wear around their necks–in front of customers. To get rid of the chicken, an employee needed to catch another employee behaving “unsafely.”

    The practice quickly descended into a game of hot potato, with employees chasing one another around the store in search of the slightest violation to rid themselves of the safety chicken.

    Source: workingamerica.com’s MyBadBoss contest.

    Many people don’t feel motivated at work, and there’s a very simple explanation for this: The motivational techniques used by most managers don’t work.

    While few companies use rubber chickens (fortunately), most of the standard motivational tools like promotions, bonuses, employee of the month awards, pep-talks and free-pizza-nights are downright harmful to the drive, energy and commitment of employees. It only leaves them feeling manipulated, cynical and demotivated.

    The result: According to one Gallup study 60-80% of workers are not engaged at work. They feel little or no loyalty, passion or motivation on the job. They’re putting in the hours, but they’re not doing a great job and they’re certainly not happy at work!

    As the illustration above shows, there are four different kinds of motivation. Only one of them works and unfortunately, many managers focus exclusively on the other three. Kinda silly, huh?

    These are the four different kinds of motivation:
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  • First reviews of Happy Hour is 9 to 5

    Happy Hour is 9 to 5The first reviews from readers of my just-published book about happiness at work Happy Hour is 9 to 5 are coming in and people seem to love it. Yaaaaay!

    Sheldon Cooke says:
    “…by far one of the most refreshing books on work culture that I’ve ever seen.”

    Lars Pind says:
    “I just purchased my copy, and it’s looking really good… It’s easily worth the $19 price tag for the PDF version.

    stic writes:
    “…the tips & tricks and recommendations will certainly take you closer to this euphoria.”

    Read all about the book, read it free online and buy it here.

    If you’ve read it, you can also add your own review.

  • Monday Tip: Send a co-worker an anonymous present

    The Chief Happiness Officer's monday tipsFirst go read this inspiring story from Kenny Moore, a catholic monk who went corporate.

    My plan was to anonymously send a $40 floral arrangement to two unsuspecting employees every Monday morning… Attached to the flowers would be a note: “Don’t ever think your good efforts go unnoticed.” Signed: “From someone who cares.”

    Then do the same: Send someone in your organization an anonymous present. Flowers, candy, balloons, a cool gadget. Something fun, happy, cheap and positive. Attach a note similar to Kenny’s

    Then watch what happens and tell me about it in a comment.

    The Chief Happiness Officer’s Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went.

    Previous monday tips.

  • Make change happen

    Gabe recently asked:

    What advice do you have for those who want to improve things and are consistently met with opposition?

    I gave my answer here but then I thought: “Hey, let’s get an expert in on the conversation.”

    I passed the question on to Ann Michael who blogs at managetochange.typepad.com. She wrote an excellent answer in the comments to the post and expanded on it on her own blog. My favorite part is:

    I know it’s an overused expression – but look for “low hanging fruit???. What are the relatively easy things (low or isolated implementation impact – e.g., things you or you and a buddy can do yourselves) that could have a noticeable positive impact on the business? That’s where you start (even if it’s not at the top of list for things YOU want to do first!). You need to gain credibility for your approach. Results speak louder than aspirations.

    There are more great suggestions in the comments on Ann’s post.

  • First interview(s)

    I announced yesterday that I would love to do an interview about happiness at work for your blog, and Mike MacLeod was the first to take me up on it.

    He asked 10 great questions and you can see the whole interview here.

    Update: Andrew Ferrier posts another interview here.

    Update update: And Erno Hannink posts his interview – complete with silly picture.

    Uodate[3]: Can lawyers be happy at work? Read the interview by Anastasia at the Lawsagna blog.

  • Ask the CHO: Making change happen

    Ask the CHOOn my post about liking vs. loving your job, Gabe asked an interesting question in the comments:

    What do you do if you work at a place where, every time you try to “raise your game???, i.e. creating coding standards, improving functionality of commonly used systems, etc, you are told that “We don’t have time for that.??? or “We should put that on the back burner until we have more staff.??? or anything else that ends up sounding like “No???.

    What advice do you have for those who want to improve things and are consistently met with opposition?

    To me, there are few things that are more demotivating than coming up with what I believe is a good idea, only to see it shot down by the usual, boiler-plate objections.

    And it doesn’t have to be this way. London-based innovation agency ?WhatIf! have implemented a practice they call greenhousing. In the book Sticky Wisdom, they write:

    Plants are at their most fragile when they are small and just starting to grow. That’s why gardeners use greenhouses. It’s the same with ideas. They are easiest to destroy when they first appear. Unfortunately, most business cultures tend to stifle ideas before they can take root.

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