Business Book Brunch: The Happiness Advantage
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles that Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor
Every six weeks or so a group of like minded women from NZBWN get together to discuss a nominated business book in a relaxed, affable environment. The book club not only combines discussion, friendship building and a great kick start to a Sunday, but it's always held at a kiwi-centric location. On this particular wintry London day, the book club enjoyed the hospitality, chic industrial aesthetic and superbly moreish food and coffee offered by Ozone Cafe.
Witty, engaging and easy to follow, that's how I'd describe The Happiness Advantage. According to author Shawn Achor, many of us fall into the trap of thinking happiness only follows success - i.e. the harder we work, the happier and more fulfilled we will become. However, Achor's premise is that this idea is both archaic and outdated. In fact, Achor says happiness is actually a precursor to success, not a result, and the happier we are the more successful we are likely to become.
To author this book Achor, a proponent of the fairly new field of positive psychology, used the findings of over 200 supporting psychological studies, his own study of 1600 Harvard undergraduate students, and consultancy work with numerous multinationals and financial institutions during the recent recession. What Achor found was seven key principals that underlined the success and performance of high achieving individuals. They are:
1. The Happiness Advantage: Retraining our brains to be more positive, which ultimately leads to improved productivity and performance. Achor gives a range of practical tips to help achieve this, including meditation, exercise, committing conscious acts of kindness and finding something to look forward to.
2. The Fulcrum and the Lever: By shifting our mindset (Fulcrum) we are able to adjust our potential/possibility (Lever) into a powerful and positive position. Essentially Achor is saying that our mindset is not set in stone and positive change is achievable no matter what your age.
3. The Tetris Effect: Training our brains to look for positive patterns (Opportunity), which opens us up to happiness, optimism and gratitude. An example of a practical suggestion Achor gave for this principal (and one that was very popular amongst book club attendees) was having a daily gratitude list of three good/positive things (they don't have to be particularly significant) that happened that day. Achor says just this small task will train your brain to 'focus on possibilities for personal and professional growth'. One book club attendee commented that this was an activity she could get her family to participate in, and one that the kids were excited about doing on a nightly basis.
4. Falling Up: Learning to find the mental path (third path) to move out of (and beyond) a difficult situation, or as Achor says, 'seeing adversity not as a stumbling block, but as a stepping stone to greatness'.
5. The Zorro Circle: Focusing on small, manageable goals initially, which eventually leads to having a larger circle and achieving bigger goals. This was easily my favourite part of the book and absolutely spoke to me. I've always been aware that I'm an emotional soul, but I've never really taken any notice of how this could be effecting me in a business sense. When Achor introduced the concept of the knee-jerk emotional system (Jerk) and our rational, cognitive system (Thinker) in this chapter, I immediately started questioning whether my emotions have, in fact, been sabotaging my success. So now when I'm suddenly overwhelmed or stressed at work, I'm instantly conscious of any knee-jerk emotional behaviour and start to look for small manageable aspects of the situation I know I am able to control.
6. The 20-Second Rule: Replacing bad habits with good ones and minimising any barriers to that change or, as Achor refers to it, 'the path of least resistance'. Ultimately, it's about limiting the amount of decisions/choices we need to make in order to create sustainable positive change. Or as another attendee noted, you’re more likely to choose the healthy option of carrots in the fridge if they are peeled, chopped and ready to go.
7. Social Investment: What Achor refers to as the 'greatest predictor of success and happiness', and a concept which I instantly connected with and one that I whole-heartedly embrace. According to Achor, this principal is incredibly important because the need for social investment, or interaction, is wired into our biology and makes us 'better equipped to thrive in even the most difficult circumstances'.
Shawn Achor states that each of these seven principals is intrinsically linked and once you make the mental shift towards positivity the more ingrained these habits will become.
The Happiness Advantage is really about retraining our brains and treating the attainment of happiness the same way you would if you were trying to conquer a second language or get that gym-honed summer body - you need to work at it. And importantly, the more we embrace and model the Happiness Advantage ourselves, the greater the ripple effect we have on our peers, friends and family.
Overall The Happiness Advantage is a solid read backed up by firm scientific research with the content and key principals applying to both your professional and personal self - a book that the NZBWN book club firmly recommends.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Happiness- Advantage-Principles- Performance/dp/0753539470