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corinnev's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
My favorite quotes and takeaways from HBR’s Happiness:
Overall, I liked the concrete research and understanding how happiness affects work from a worker and a managers standpoint.
Overall, I liked the concrete research and understanding how happiness affects work from a worker and a managers standpoint.
“Happiness feels intolerably elusive for many of us. Like fog, you can see it from afar, dense and full of shape. But upon approach, it’s particles loosen and suddenly it becomes out of reach, even though it’s all around you.”
“As our lives came to include more empathy, gratitude, and meaning, I stopped feeling sad.”
“being happy and leading rich lives is about taking the good with the bad, and learning how to reframe the bad”
“happy people are better workers. Those who are engaged with their jobs and colleagues work harder— and smarter.”
“Frustration, anger, and stress cause an important part of us to shut down — the part that’s thinking and engaged. Disengagement is a natural neurological and psychological response to pervasive negative emotions.”
“To be fully engaged, people need vision, meaning, purpose, and resonant relationships.”
“it’s on us as individuals to find ways to live our values at work and build great relationships. And it’s on leaders to create an environment where people can thrive. It’s simple and practical: if you want an engaged workforce, pay attention to how you create a vision, link peoples work to your company’s larger purpose, and reward individuals who resonate with others.”
“We have a remarkable ability to make the best of things. Most people are more resilient than they realize”
“Synthetic happiness is what we produce when we dont get what we want, and natural happiness is what we experience when we do. They have different origins but they are not necessarily different in terms of how they feel. One is not obviously better than the other…most folks think synthetic happiness isn’t as “good” as the other kind- that people who produce it are just fooling themselves and aren’t really happy. I see no evidence demonstrating that that’s the case. You’re not lying to yourself; you’re not delusional.”
“Frequency of your positive experiences is a much better predictor of your happiness than is the intensity of your positive experiences”
“The progress principle: of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a work day, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. The more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run.”
“Knowing what serves to catalyze and nourish progress - and what does the opposite - turns out to be the key to effectively managing people and their work.”
People are most motivated when they have the opportunity to experience achievement. Marking consistent meaningful progress = sense of achievement.
“It is especially important for managers to minimize daily hassles”
Be a resource not a micromanager - check IN versus check UP
“If you facilitate their steady progress in meaningful work, make that progress salient to them, and treat them well, they will experience the emotions, motivations, and perceptions necessary for great performance. Their superior work will contribute to organizational success. And here’s the beauty of it: they will love their jobs.”
Components of thriving:
1. Vitality: “The sense of being alive, passionate, and excited. Employees who experience vitality spark energy in themselves and others. Companies generate vitality by giving people the sense that what they do on a daily basis makes a difference.
2. Learning: The growth that comes from gaining new knowledge and skills.
—> ONE CANNOT BE GOOD WITHOUT THE OTHER (otherwise you get burnout)
“Our research has uncovered four mechanisms that create the conditions for thriving employees: providing decision-making discretion, sharing information, minimizing instability, and offering performance feedback. The mechanisms overlap somewhat. For instance, if you let people make decisions but give them incomplete information, or leave them exposed to hostile reactions, they will suffer rather than thrive.”
“Corporate culture is inherently contagious; employees assimilate to their environment.”
FEEDBACK is critical to thriving: it helps relieve uncertainty and keeps the focus on goals.
“Essentially, when happiness becomes a duty, it can make people feel worse if they fail to accomplish it. This is particularly problematic in the present era, in which happiness is preached as a moral obligation.”
Drawbacks when focusing on happiness in the workplace:
-expecting happiness at work might cause us to expect reassurance from our bosses that makes us emotionally vulnerable in the workplace.
-be weary that emotional dependence on work creates risks for if you get laid off, etc.
-also note the risk of viewing happiness as something that can be created in a calculated way, which can interfere when spilled over into home and personal life.
bradleyfrederick's review against another edition
4.0
To be honest, I picked this book up in Laguardia because my phone was low on battery and I needed to save what was left so I could order a Lyft when I got to my destination. That said, this book really surprised me. There is a diverse range of opinions on happiness, what it means to be happy, and where we should and end up searching for this long term fulfillment. It is a very quick read and great for traveling (no wonder they sell these in airports). While I probably won’t go out of my way for another one of these in my usual reading list, I do plan to download less Netflix episodes before my next flight and buy another one of these essay collections to read instead.
nicolerojasp's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
daniele_quinn's review against another edition
3.0
the first half of the book was pretty insightful but the second half was mostly contradictory :/