Happiness Drives Business Results? Not So Fast…

Here is an article written by Dan Bowling for Talent Management magazine. To check out all the resources and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here.

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If you are a college football fan, you are familiar with ESPN Gameday, the live show filmed before big games. It’s like a traveling circus rolling from campus to campus. Excitement reaches a fever pitch as game time nears, with thousands of students in strange costumes and inconsistent levels of sobriety gathering around the stage of the hosts. The hosts have some routine shtick. Near kickoff, one of them, Kirk Herbstreit, delivers a serious thesis about who will win the game and why. It is always well-reasoned and founded on solid theory and observation of practice sessions. Then his partner Lee Corso responds with a refrain familiar to viewers: “Not so fast, my friend.” In other words, theories about the game’s outcome might sound good, but only when they are tested on the field do we know if they work.

Recently, it has become common to read bold, unqualified declarations that happiness drives business results.  I have certainly been guilty of hyperbole in this regard. However, during the past few weeks positive psychologist Shannon Polly and I have been preparing an article for a future edition of Talent Management exploring the connection between happiness and business results, and we have found the causal link is not that clear. Although there are exciting and promising things happening in organizations as diverse as Freddie Mac, NYSE Euronext, and PWC-Australia (you’ll have to read the article to learn about them!), much of what we discovered during our research consisted of lab studies, survey results, unverifiable claims from consulting firms or hypothetical musings. Nothing wrong with all of this, but it is like Herbstreit’s pre-game analytics: we have an excellent idea of what should work, but not too many final scores.

Perhaps that shouldn’t surprise anyone, and doesn’t mean happiness at work does not drive results. I certainly believe it does, based upon my years in the Coca-Cola system in both HR and business unit leadership, and I write about it ad nauseum in this blog. Also, the theoretical foundations of “happiness studies” rests upon very sound academic footing with test studies showing robust results.

Indeed, charges of insufficient empirical proof can be leveled against almost any HR-related business initiative, but that doesn’t mean the initiative doesn’t become part of the normative standards and culture of an organization. Take for example, diversity. It might startle younger readers, but 20 years ago few people gave “diversity” little more than lip service, and to the extent it was incorporated in workplace practices it tended to be couched in terms of litigation avoidance. Today, it is impossible to imagine a major corporation that doesn’t trumpet the importance of diversity to its mission, and many organizations have officer-level departments devoted to promoting diversity. When its empirical links to financial performance are probed, however, the water becomes a bit cloudy, but that doesn’t stop – nor should it – its mainstream place in corporate America.

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Daniel S. Bowling III is an expert on the science of well-being and work and conducts empirical research on this topic through the University of Pennsylvania. Formerly, he was a partner in a major law firm and later, the global head of human resources at Coca-Cola Enterprises, where he directed all HR activities for more than 80,000 employees worldwide. He currently holds faculty positions at both Duke Law School and UPenn. He also leads a consulting firm, Positive Workplace Solutions, that works with some of the largest institutions in the country showing that well-being enhances not just life satisfaction but productivity and performance, and writes and speaks extensively on these topics. He can be reached at his firm.

Introverts: How to Network in Your Own Way

Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

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Networking is essential to thriving in business.

But if you’re an introvert with a natural aversion to groups and talking with strangers, what can you do? Try these initiatives:

•  Focus on individuals. Group interactions can drain introverts. Spend your networking time having one-on-one conversations.

•  Rethink how you reach out. Introverts often hesitate to introduce themselves, but social media makes it easier. Reach out via LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Facebook to people before events. This pre-introduction may put you at ease.

•  Re-energize. Take time between networking events to recharge. Take a walk or find 30 minutes alone.
Adapted from “An Introvert’s Guide to Networking” by Lisa Petrilli.

To read that article and join the discussion, please click here.

Also, you may wish to check out a book, Management Tips from Harvard Business Review, by clicking here.

Creativity is a Verb, and feels like Hard Work – insight from Jonah Lehrer, Imagine

I have now read enough about creativity to know that we have our work cut out for us.

What we think, what we wish, is that creative ideas just fall from the sky in blinding moments of inspiration.  That does happen, but…  But, just as Twyla Tharp says in The Creative Habit, and Jonah Lehrer confirms in his thorough study of creativity, creative breakthroughs are the result of specific practices (“habits”), serious attention to work places, and work styles, and many, many interactions and connections, and work discipline…

Yes, breakthroughs may come suddenly, but they come at the end of some very hard and serious work.  And then, when the breakthrough arrives, there is much more hard work to do to turn the idea into something real.  Here’ s a key quote from the Lehrer book:

I think people need to be reminded that creativity is a verb, a very time-consuming verb. It’s about taking an idea in your head, and transforming that idea into something real. And that’s always going to be a long and difficult process. If you’re doing it right, it’s going to feel like work.”

Our future depends on our creative work leading to those creative breakthroughs.  So, we all need to get to work…

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If you are in the DFW area, come join us this Friday, May 4, at the First Friday Book Synopsis.  I will present my synopsis of Imagine:  How Creativity Works, and Karl Krayer will present his synopsis of Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success
 by Rory Vaden.  7:00 am at the Park City Club.  Click here to register.

What great employees do

Image courtesy of Flickr user dan_mcweeney)

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Steve Tobak for CBS MoneyWatch, the CBS Interactive Business Network. To check out an abundance of valuable resources and obtain a free subscription to one or more of the website’s newsletters, please click here.

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This definitely isn’t the first time somebody’s written about what makes employees special. But it may very well be the first time someone’s telling you what will genuinely get your management excited about you and ultimately get you promoted. No kidding.

Look, you’ve got to understand the reality here. People will cite ridiculously esoteric research studies and pull all sorts of popular, feel-good stuff out of their utopian behinds — whatever it takes to get you to click. That’s great for feeding your ego and your addiction to distraction, but it doesn’t do squat for your career.

This is different. It’s not some kumbaya fluff that will get you a big pat on the back, a “Nice job, buddy” from the boss, or a gift certificate for a cheap dinner. This is what employees really do to distinguish themselves in the eyes of management. It’s how up-and-comers become up-and-comers. It’s how you get recognized and moving up the corporate ladder. It’s what today’s top executives did when they were in your shoes.

[Here are the first three of seven defining characteristics of great employees. To read the complete article, please click here.]

1. Take responsibility for hot projects with a fearless attitude. And get this. If it works out, you don’t waste a lot of time basking in the glory, at least not at work. Maybe you go out and celebrate with the other team members. That aside, you’re all about finding the next big challenge. You’re hungry for more. And if it fails, you don’t point fingers. You take full responsibility and learn from it. And you know what? That’s when management will start to see you as one of them. That’s big.

2. Demonstrate natural leadership. That means when you take charge of something, people naturally follow, even though you don’t have the title or the authority. Never mind everything you read; that’s what natural leadership is really all about. There are all sorts of different styles that work, but mostly it comes down to a fearless self-confidence and charisma that people find magnetic. That’s like gold in the corporate world.

3. Say, “Sure, no problem, will do,” and then do it. It’s one thing to have a solid work ethic and get the job done. That certainly key in the real business world. But it’s another thing entirely to always accept challenging assignments with open arms and a simple, “No problem, will do” acknowledgement. And the tougher it is, the more confident you sound and the harder you work to make it happen. That’s the sign of an employee who needs a promotion or two.

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Steve Tobak is a consultant and former high-tech senior executive. He’s managing partner of Invisor Consulting, a management consulting and business strategy firm. Contact Steve, follow him on Facebook, or connect on LinkedIn.