Can a positive attitude increase productivity? Stephen Gee on why happiness training should be part of your business plan.
At John Rowan & Partners we have introduced a new business approach designed to promote an optimistic view on work and life that is based on The Happiness Advantage, a book by Harvard University lecturer Shawn Achor, which draws on new research on how we can train the brain to think more positively.
Achor’s ideas are based on the theory that most people behave in a way that they have learnt throughout their lives, whether it was at home, school, work or through society in general. Which is, if you work hard you will be a success and once you’re deemed a success you will be happy. This way of thinking explains what drives us to succeed. We think, “if I just secure that next promotion or deal then I will be happy”.
However, this behaviour is flawed. If success really causes happiness, then everyone who has ever taken a new job, received a promotion, or achieved their monthly targets should be happy by default. But this isn’t true, and with each achievement we push the goal posts of success out a little further.
The Happiness Advantage turns on its head the old theory of work hard, achieve the next thing and then we will be happy. More than a decade of research in psychology and neuroscience has proven that the relationship between success and happiness works the other way around. Happiness is the precursor to success, as Achor states: “Waiting to be happy limits our brain’s potential for success, whereas cultivating positive brains makes us more motivated, efficient, resilient, creative and productive which drives performance upward. Happiness and optimism fuel performance and achievement – giving us the competitive edge = Happiness Advantage.”
"The fifth technique is my favourite: we ask people to write down three positive things that have happened each day. This exercise is undertaken for at least 21 days but ultimately it should help you become more optimistic and positive."
So how do we apply this to a construction business? Being happy doesn’t mean going around the office or construction site smiling all day, it’s about having an optimistic approach to what you do and what you can achieve. We spend our lives surrounded by bad news and this couldn’t be truer of our industry over the last few years. While construction is now thankfully entering better times, the Happiness Advantage remains as important as ever. This approach is not something to be brought out only when times are tough, it is a change of mindset to help a business grow, whatever the economic environment.
Simple techniques can be used to retrain ourselves to seek out the positives and put bad news into perspective. In terms of business planning, we had found that after some very tough years it was becoming difficult to raise our sights and set challenging goals. Realistic planning had taken hold, which tends to result in a downward spiral of achievement.
In simple terms, is it better to set a target of 10% on last year and achieve it because it is realistic? Or is it better to explore the possibilities of what you might achieve, if only you tried, setting a higher target of 20% and realising that when you achieve 16% that this is much better than a realistic 10%. This can only be achieved, however, when people feel that they won’t be judged or punished for not achieving targets, and that the expectation on them comes from themselves and not others.
At our firm we adopted five simple techniques, based on Achor’s Happiness Advantage, to help retrain our minds. They include regular exercise, meditation, creative writing and undertaking random acts of kindness.
But the fifth technique is my favourite: we ask people to write down three positive things that have happened each day. This can be challenging at first as our brain generally seeks out the negative. This exercise is undertaken for at least 21 days (the minimum amount of time it takes to retrain the brain) but ultimately it should help you become more optimistic and positive. At the very least you will end up with a list of 63 positive things that have happened!
The introduction of these techniques have already brought success to the business, and we are looking at a year of record growth. Just as important is the positive atmosphere it has brought to the company, improving the whole feel of what we do and how we achieve it.
It is an ongoing process and all new employees learn about the Happiness Advantage as part of their induction. We also undertake regular workshops to remind staff of the approach and to stop them slipping back into their old ways.
The Happiness Advantage requires no financial investment and it’s certainly working for us so I can only suggest that other companies give it a try.
Stephen Gee is managing partner at consultant John Rowan & Partners
