The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Category: Happy At Work

How to be happy at work

  • Selling fish in Seattle – and having fun

    I’ve never been to the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, but people who have describe it as a joyful chaos. The fishmongers throw the fish and crabs around, catch them one-handed, yell at and with the customers and generally have a great time.

    But things weren’t always great. Yokoyama, the owner, describes himself as an ex-tyrant, who only recently learned to treat employees as peers in stead of peons. And the reward has been to see the company come to life, and the customers have followed.

    Let me give you an example of what happens in a company, where people have this much fun.
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  • Book review: Flow

    Everybody knows the state of Flow. Flow is when you’re engrossed in doing something. You may forget time and place. You may forget to eat or sleep. You’re doing what you’re doing, and your entire attention is focused on that.

    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote a book about it back in 1990, based on many years of research into happiness. And the book is excellent. No other book I’ve read discusses human happiness (and unhappiness) so clearly and fluidly.

    So what is it that makes us happy?
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  • Book review: The soul of a new machine

    Writer Tracy Kidder won a Pulitzer prize in 1982 for The soul of a new machine. It’s the true story of a team of engineers at Data General who are designing the next generation of micro-computer.

    I first read the book ten years ago, while I was still at university, and while it’s still an excellent read, my perspective on the story has changed completely.
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  • Quote

    Few of us can understand any longer the enthusiasm of Caliph Ali ben Ali, who wrote: “A subtle conversation, that is the Garden of Eden.” This is a pity, because it could be argued that the main function of conversation is not to get things accomplished, but to improve the quality of experience.
    – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Flow

  • Quote

    What I “discovered” was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.
    – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Flow

  • Book review: The springboard

    Stephen Denning was faced with a task, which I do not envy him: He was charged with implementing knowledge management in huge and very conservative organization (the World Bank) which so far had not considered itself in the knowledge business.

    This book is the story of how he did it – using stories. He found that whenever he used “traditional” presentations to present the idea of knowledge management and the changes necessary to implement it, he got nowhere. People were skeptical. However, when he used stories to convey the message, people’s attitudes changed, and they became much more positive.
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  • Happiness at work

    Seems a lot of people are interested in happiness in the workplace these days. Check out this Google search.

    A few highlights:
    These guys are starting self-replicating “Joy at work” support groups.
    Tips for hiring the right people.
    An article on interpersonal relations at work.
    Health and happiness at work.

  • Quote

    Work is fast replacing religion in providing meaning in people’s lives. Work has become how we define ourselves, it is now answering the traditional religious questions: Who am I? How do I find meaning and purpose? Work is no longer just about economics; it’s about identity.
    – Benjamin Hunnicutt, historian and professor at the University of Iowa at Iowa City

  • Book review: Gung ho!

    This book, subtitled “Turn on the People in Any Organization”, is a really quick read, but it contains some pretty good ideas nevertheless.

    The whole book is a a story of an iron plant in America, that’s in deep trouble. Profits are down, and the employees are hostile towards the new CEO that’s just been hired.

    The CEO talks to an indian, and learns the spirit of the squirrel, the way of the beaver and the gift of the goose.
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  • My project

    My project (Projekt Arbejdsgl?de) is moving along nicely. I’ve created a website for it here, and the first two workshops will be held in february.

    If you have any comments on the website, or would like to join a workshop, please let me know.