Category Archives: Happy At Work

How to be happy at work

Exercise

November 23, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

Check out this quote from an article in Fast Company:

A nine-month study of 80 executives found that those who worked out regularly improved their fitness by 22% and demonstrated a 70% improvement in their ability to make complex decisions as compared with non-exercisers.

A couple of days ago, there was a doctor on TV talking … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership

Book review: Birth of the Chaordic Age

November 12, 2002 Alexander 1 Comment

This is one of Dee Hock's favourite tricks to play on an audience. "How many of you recognize this?" he asks, holding out his own Visa card. Every hand in the room goes up. "Now," Hock says, "how many of you can tell me who owns it, where it's headquartered, how it's governed, or where … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership, Learning

Book review: An unused intelligence

November 4, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

There are many different theories about learning, but not a single one of them states, that the best way to learn, is to sit passively on a chair, while a teacher talks about the subject in question. No theory ever in the history of the world has claimed it, and yet this is how schools, … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership

Book review: The power of spirit

October 28, 2002 Alexander 1 Comment

Harrison Owen is the inventor of Open Space Technology, the most exciting and productive way of meeting with other people that I know of. In The power of spirit, how organizations transfrom he describes what an organization might look like, if it lived by the open space principles. And let me … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership, Science/Technology

Book review: The soul at work

October 27, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

Complexity science is appearing more and more often in business literature (and just about everywhere else). This book with the subtitle "unleashing the power of complexity science for business success" shows a better way to manage organizations than the old command-and-control way, and describes some of the tools needed to get there. It … Continue Reading ››

Happy At Work

Conference

October 22, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

I spent monday and tuesday attending a conference on mental health in the workspace. Topics ranged from stress and depression to motivation and creativity. The speakers were psychologists, business managers, scientists and even a priest (Johannes M?llehave).

The quality of the individual sessions varied, but overall the conference was good. I am left … Continue Reading ››

Happy At Work, Storytelling

Exercise: Believe the best about people

October 19, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

We were down at the local supermarket today, and the guy behind the cash register was slouched in his chair like a rag doll, made no eye contact with customers, and had a vibe about him that said "I'd rather be anywhere else". Normally, I'd be thinking along the lines of "indifferent asshole, why doesn't … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership

Book review: Orbiting the giant hairball

October 16, 2002 Alexander 2 Comments

Gordon Mackenzie spent 20 years working for Hallmark, and his experiences there have enabled him to write what he calls "a corporate fools guide to surviving with grace". There's no doubt that Gordon is a free spirit, and here he shares the mindset and that allowed him to survive and prosper in a … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Learning

Book review: The Zen of Groups

October 15, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

This "Handbook on meeting people with a purpose" by Dale Hunter, Anne Bailey and Bill Taylor weighs in at a little under 200 pages, but it is packed with useful information. I bought it on amazon mainly because the title made me curious, and it was a quick and interesting read. There isn't much earth-shattering … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership, Learning

Book review: The fifth discipline

October 14, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

The fifth discipline by Peter M. Senge is one of those books that truly make a difference. It is referred to in many different contexts, and it played an important role in shaping the concepts of the learning organization. He uses a cool analogy, and compares it to the first succesful commercial airplane the … Continue Reading ››