Happiness Is a By-Product, Not a Goal
Image: Google Image

Happiness Is a By-Product, Not a Goal

Do Work Conditions Cause Happiness?

Happiness research is conflicted. There is evidence both refuting and supporting the idea that happiness is directly related to specific work conditions. In the Harvard Business Review article “The Research We’ve Ignored About Happiness at Work” by André Spicer and Carl Cederström, the authors speculate that some of the benefits of being happy at work may be mythologized.

Let’s look at a few examples I’ve run into while coaching.

When I met Shawn, he had started a new role at a mid-sized advertising firm. He’d been coveting this job for over two years and when he became the front-runner he told me, “This is going to make me a happy person.” Two months later Shawn was wondering what he’d gotten himself into. He was working very long hours, his relationships at home were suffering, and he felt decidedly less happy.

Howard makes tools and loves what he does. He tells me it’s high-precision work that requires patience and focus. It’s very rewarding for Howard because he enjoys being in those moments. He finds that time passes quickly and suddenly it’s his lunch break or time to head out for the weekend.

Riana works in a highly competitive environment where she frequently finds herself frustrated with its aggressive management culture. But recently, Riana was assigned to a new manager who seems contrary to the company’s culture; she is interested in Riana as a person, gives her adequate time to get her work done, and is supportive of her goals. Riana finally starts to feel happy and comfortable. But in a very short time, her new manager quits, explaining that the competitive culture is too strenuous. In our coaching session, Riana tells me that she was very happy one minute, then the next she is back where she was - unhappy and disengaged.

Happiness is Volatile

These examples illustrate my belief that happiness does not come from external sources. Conditions change; like-minded colleagues come and go; that promotion you longed for is less exciting than you imagined.

But consider Howard. Howard is intrinsically happy, and it comes from the care and attention he brings to tool-making.

The Pitfalls of Associating Productivity with Happiness

We can’t link happiness to productivity for two reasons:

  1. Happiness is far more complex than any single variable or factor that appears to contribute to it. From Spicer and Cederström’s HBR piece: “…Just because we have more advanced technology today doesn’t mean we’re any closer to pinning down a definition [of happiness], as Will Davies reminds us in his new book The Happiness Industry. He concludes that even as we have developed more advanced techniques for measuring emotions and predicting behaviors, we have also adopted increasingly simplified notions of what it means to be human, let alone what it means to pursue happiness.”
  1. Happiness is not a tangible outcome. It is a feeling that is an outcome of actions taken. Happiness is derived from the actions, attention, and attitude that all come together to please you, in particular, as an individual. For example, while Howard feels buoyed by his work, another person might consider making precision tools boring.

Take Control of Your Happiness

Stop believing that external causes—a new job, better pay, or a different manager—are going to make you happy. Happiness can be developed by many means. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Be kind to others. Instead of expecting co-workers to be helpful and finding yourself let down, take the initiative and be the one who takes collaborative action first.
  • Give your work your full attention whenever possible. Turn it into a meditative process where the goal is to be engaged and present each successive moment.
  • Take pride in what you do. For instance, my client Walter has only one year left before retirement and he is burnt out. He feels disengaged and frustrated with how his last 10 years have turned out at work. I encouraged him to find one or two work activities that he could still do from his heart, ones he didn’t resent. By focusing on these, he was able to continue doing some excellent work as he looked forward to retirement.
  • Turn your attention away from work and focus on your outside experience. Look for ways to feel happy about your life. Whatever it is that makes you smile, savor and encourage that.

Happiness is unstable when you expect it to originate from external forces. You’ll achieve far better results when you work on cultivating it through your attitudes, attention, and action. Always remember: happiness is an inside job!

Stress. Distraction. Indifference.

These are common ailments brought on by a rapidly changing global business environment. If untreated, they negatively impact your team’s performance – and the bottom line.

How Will You Adapt?

Thriving on Change is an online course that teaches the proven-effective methods that will ensure your team can expertly respond to uncertainty, conflict, and inevitable distraction. Register here. Watch excerpts from the course here

Satish Kakri

#global #public speaking trainer #author #bhagavadgita Multi-Award Winning Public Speaker, Voice & Speech Coach, Teaches Management Principles of Bhagavad Gita, Corporate Trainer & Mentor

8y

Very useful & interesting! Life is a journey, indeed. Enjoying the journey is the best way to live. Well written article is a good motivation!

Like
Reply
Charanjiv Singh

Helping organizations unlock their potential.

8y

Wonderful!

Like
Reply
Angela Giacoumis

Building Courageous Leadership & High Performance Teams | Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator I Executive & Team Coach I Emotional Intelligence Master Practitioner I Speaker

8y

Great read and insights

Like
Reply
Cynthia Jefferson-Stovall RN-MSN MBA

Independent Nurse Consultant( Self-employed)

8y

Yes

Like
Reply

Excellent insight as always. Thank you.

Like
Reply

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Explore topics