Featuring its usual mix of funny and fascinating presentations, TED 2015 has come and gone. This year’s edition of the super-trendy conference reminded us of one of our favorite TED Talks, Shawn Achor’s “Happy Secret to Better Work.”
A psychological researcher and business consultant, Achor offers an electrifying take on positivity in the workplace and building a better, happier company—which fits perfectly with our motto: “Find more fun!” So c’mon in, watch the video, and learn a little bit more about the power of positive thinking.
The Happy Secret to Better Work
“Normal is merely average.” Only by studying outliers, by embracing the above-average, the special case, can companies hope to improve the average. And how can they accomplish that? Shawn Achor, a man who researched happiness at Harvard, has an answer: making employees happy.
“What we’re finding, he says, “is that it’s not necessarily reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.”
The Happiness Advantage
Most companies—and most people, Achor says—constantly shift the goal posts of success. Oh, hey, you hit a sales goal? You landed an account? You solved a problem? No time to consider that an accomplishment, because you should move on to the next thing, and then the next thing after that.
“We need to reverse the formula for happiness and success,” Achor says. “If happiness is on the opposite side of success, your brain never gets there. If we can find a way of becoming positive in the present, then our brains work even more successfully, and we’re able to work harder, faster, and more intelligently.”
Small changes ripple outward, he says. Little things like journaling, exercise, and acts of kindness in your personal and professional lives make a big difference.
The Watson Way
Happiness is the key to productive employees and successful companies. Light years beyond your average team-building event, our Corporate Scavenger Hunts and Trivia Slams challenge the individual even as they forge coworkers into a cohesive unit bent on success in the game and back at the office.
Contact us to learn everything you need to know about our exciting, adventurous take on the happiness advantage.
(Lead image courtesy of Wikipedia)