Happiness at Work

I'm a discussion leader for our next enrichment event at work. I volunteered for several reasons: the last event was superb, I'd like to meet some of the people on the other side of the office, and I thought it would be fun.

The last event was a creativity workshop with Suzanne Merritt, the former Sr. Creatologist at Polaroid. Her workshop was fantastic! During the two-hour lunch-and-learn session, we discussed how we see ourselves, our ideas, and how we can be more creative in our lives and in the workplace. Suzanne led several activities to reinforce what we learned about the various ways to express creativity, and she also shared practical ways to find and implement creative solutions to everyday problems. We even discussed the correct way to facilitate a brainstorming session, which I had never learned (despite my years of schooling and my years in several creative positions).

At this week's event, we will be discussing Happiness at Work by Srikumar S. Rao. Before reading the book, I was a bit skeptical. I dislike self-help books, as many of them list quick fixes to problems like weight gain, low self-respect, etc. without really asking the reader to examine the core of the issue. 

What I find most interesting about Happiness at Work is that many of the book's exercises don't ask you to do anything, Instead, the exercises instruct readers to observe -- to observe their surroundings, their reactions to difficult situations, and their interactions with others. For most of the book, the repeated message to the reader is: "Step outside yourself!"

Here are my favorite ideas from the book:


1. Stop labeling your life


Rao suggests that we add unnecessary drama to our day by giving circumstances and outcomes a positive or negative rating. Like getting into a car accident -- Bad. Getting a raise -- Good. By investing emotion, positive or negative, in every detail of our day, we sap our energy and lose sight of the greater goal. Most importantly, when we become agitated with situations that are out of our control, like bad weather or a computer problem, we are allowing these events to alter our attitude and our (re)actions -- which we can and should control.


2.  Invest in the process

As a goal-oriented person, I've always measured myself by what I've managed to achieve. I like to finish and finish well. I play to win. Rao argues that because the outcome cannot be controlled, we should not fix our happiness on achieving a certain outcome and become blind to the opportunities surrounding the process. Our natural tendency is to despair when we fail, but if we use that emotional energy to find a new solution, it will be easier to move into the next process, where we may achieve a previously unimaginable result. More importantly, the knowledge we acquire while working towards the end goal may, in the end, be more valuable than the goal itself.


3. Keep Calm and Carry On

I really like Rao's suggestion to avoid extreme emotional responses, and to face many of our experiences with a lack of emotion. In his words:

"Visualize a chess-playing computer. When it makes an error, it simply notes it. There is no anguish, no beating up on itself. Even when it makes a blunder and loses a piece, it simply carries on. When the opponent makes a strong move, there is no fear, no depth of despair."

This is great advice for perfectionists.



So, I recommend the book. It has made me more mindful of how I process everyday problems and helped me recognize some ways I can improve my attitude about difficult situations and circumstances which are less than ideal.