The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

  • The rest is … silence

    There’s a very important talent, a discipline, that is almost totally ignored these days: Silence and solitude.

    We’re talkers. We speak, argue, discuss, put forth. We seem to express ourselves mostly by what we do and say, and we measure others by the same yardstick. But there is a value in silence and solitude that I think we’re forgetting. Being alone with your own thoughts allows you to learn something about yourself and your current situation that you might miss if you’re always talking and doing.

    I hade the privilege of trying 48 hours of silence last year, and it was a beatiful and terrifying experience. Two days with no TV, nothing to read, noone to talk to, no phones, no internet, no nothing. Or actually nothing but nothing. Two days with plenty of time to slow down and discover what went on inside my head.
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  • Happy new year!

    Happy new year, I’m off to a party.

    I hope that 2003 will be the year where we get exactly what we need – instead of what we want or think we want or think we need.

    I wish you good fortune, peace and lots of fun.

  • Quote

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    People don’t burn out because they’re trying to solve problems. People burn out because they’ve been trying to solve the same problem over and over and over.
    – Susan Scott

  • Coping with paradox

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    I was net-researching the concept of paradox, when I discovered this article from the CEO Refresher, which describes how you can (and should) embrace paradox in business. Excellent stuff!

    Teasers:
    Living with paradox may not be comfortable or easy, but it reflects a significant understanding of how ?things? really work.
    …
    Any over-determined behaviour produces its opposite… An awareness of the polarities and paradox can move the action forward positively.

  • Book review: The living company

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    I always thought that the really big companies were immortal. That once an organization attained a certain size, it would last forever, barring some catastrophic event or weird fluke. But it turns out, that the average life span of Fortune 500 companies is under 50 years!

    Arie de Geus pioneered a study at Shell that uncovered this fact, and looked at companies that have lasted a long time, and “The living company: Growth, Learning and Longevity in Business” summarizes the characteristics of these organizations. The most important fact that sets them apart: They are not in business only for the money!

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  • Po Bronson: What Should I Do with My Life?

    Po Bronson (the author of “The nudist on the late shift“) takes on the most fundamental question “What Should I Do with My Life?” in his new book. There’s an article on it in Fast Company, and it’s excellent stuff.

    Here’s a teaser:
    Instead of focusing on what’s next, let’s get back to what’s first. The previous era of business was defined by the question, Where’s the opportunity? I’m convinced that business success in the future starts with the question, What should I do with my life? Yes, that’s right. The most obvious and universal question on our plates as human beings is the most urgent and pragmatic approach to sustainable success in our organizations.
    …
    [People] thrive by focusing on the question of who they really are — and connecting that to work that they truly love ( and, in so doing, unleashing a productive and creative power that they never imagined ).

    Yes! Thank you Mr. Bronson. Some of these thoughts lie at the center of my project (projekt arbejdsgl?de), and it’s beatiful to see a writer with his clout popularizing the same thoughts.

    However, I do have one observation to add.
    (more…)

  • Quote

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    My name is closely associated with Open Space, which might lead people to assume that I designed it with infinite patience and great care. This would be an error. As I see it, Open Space has always existed, or it has recently emerged by itself. My privilege has been simply to stumble upon it.
    – Harrison Owen about the discovery of Open Space Technology

  • Stomach brain

    How many brains does the average human have? One? Wrong! There’s one in the head, and it seems we also have an extra one wrapped around our intestines. Read all about it.

  • Quote

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    How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.
    – Niels Bohr

  • Anger management

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    There’s a new series on TV2 about anger management. It turns out that in most cases where we danes are hopping mad inside, we try hard to maintain a calm exterior.

    Which got me thinking: Might this also be going on at work..?
    (more…)

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