The Happiness Advantage

The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work

Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we'll be happy. But recent scientific discoveries have shown that this formula is actually backward: what research across organisations across the world such as UBS and KPMG consistently demonstrates is that happiness fuels success, not the other way around.

So how does this work in practice and what can you do to raise your success and performance at work?

How does the Happiness Advantage work?

When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient and productive at work. This isn't just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology, neuroscience, management studies and the bottom line of organisations around the world. As a recent Harvard Business Review editorial observed, 'we'd be stupid not to use that knowledge'.

The 7 principles

Achor identifies seven practical principles that fuel success and performance at work. The good news is that we can learn and develop these.

1. The Happiness Advantage - positive workers have higher levels of productivity, produce higher sales, perform better in leadership positions and receive higher performance ratings and levels of pay.
2. The Fulcrum and the Lever - you can't change reality, but you can change how you process the world. You can teach your brain to look for ways to rise above situational circumstances. The more you move your mind (fulcrum) the more your lever lengthens and the more power you generate. Move your mind towards the positive and it provides the power to overcome obstacles.
3. The Tetris Effect - Achor tells a story of how, after playing 'Grand Theft Auto' he went for a walk. He happened upon a police car and his first impulse was to steal it! Of course he didn't but the story illustrates the principle that our previous thoughts impact our future thoughts. Having a negative outlook on things is a reinforcing habit - and one that can be broken.
4. Falling Up - by this Achor means finding the mental path that leads up and out of failure and teaches us how to be happier and more successful from it.
5. The Zorro Circle - Limit your focus to small, manageable goals to gain greater control and power.
6. The 20-Second Rule - we can form new habits if we make it easy to do the right thing and harder to do the wrong thing. For example, if you want to stay off the chocolate biscuits, stop buying them and put a bowl of fruit somewhere easily accessible instead.
7. Social Investment - one of the greatest predictors of happiness and success is to avoid retreating within ourselves during tough times and invest more in building our social support network to propel ourselves forward.

The Ripple Effect

Achor concludes the book with observations that when our brains are 'happy', then that positivity will ripple out to others and can raise their productivity too.

"The goal of science is turning observation into prediction.
The goal of business is turning prediction into profit.
Thus good science means great business.
If you can quantify predictors of success, it's like adding a GPS
to your company as it navigates new terrain.