3 Questions on Purpose and Happiness

We hear and read a lot about purpose, both in life and in business.

It tends to be discussed either from the perspective of business performance or related to personal fulfilment and happiness.

A recent article from Nico Rosberg reminded of a podcast I ran a few years ago “What is the Business Case for Happiness?”. It was a great conversation with Juergen Mueller, then a Partner at PwC, a business leader and self styled ‘Happiness Czar”. In case that worries you, he is not a “happy clappy” hippy!

Juergen was encouraging his clients to ask big questions of their employees: “What makes sense for me? What gives me drive? What makes me happy?”

We talked through the opportunity, the science, the psychology and the barriers to happiness as a business strategy. It was an unusual and thought-provoking discussion – not a typical podcast topic for us!

This resonated with Nico’s reflections on his old boss, Toto Wolff, who had shared his formula for happiness.

He said you need three things:

1. Someone to love.
2. Something to do.
3. Something to dream of.

The love part, that’s down to you . .  😉

But the “do” and the “dream” – Nico raises the reality that, if and when your dream comes true, it may feel amazing but it also leaves a hole! 

It is easy to put so much effort into the “do” to have lost sight of the “dream”.

We are all really busy.

But we do need to be pulled forward by something too.

Nico shares 3 ideas, the last of which was genuinely new to me, and made me think;

1. Get your goals out of your head and onto paper. Write it down and make it visible. Research suggest that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals simply by writing them down.
2. Get in rooms with people who also have a dream. Nothing rebuilds your own fire faster than being around people chasing something bigger than themselves.
3. Make your dream a state, instead of a finish line or “ultimate goal”. Rather than “I want to achieve X by next quarter/year”, the dream should be something you ARE, not something waiting for you at the end. “I AM . . . . . . . . . “  and aim to live it every day. I like that . . . .

This “Dream State” perspective really hit me.

It certainly sounds like a big part of the recipe for fulfilment and happiness . . .

Finally, it turns out that “The Business Case for Happiness” has actually been researched!

Jennifer Aaker, Sara Gaviser Leslie and Debra Schifrin at Stanford shared why it is important for employees and customers to be happy, how happiness positively impacts the bottom line, and how an organization can design for happiness.

Research shows that employee happiness leads to increased productivity, increased generation of innovative ideas, fewer sick days, higher income, favorable evaluations from supervisors, and a more supportive working atmosphere.

Customer happiness leads to company loyalty, increased spending on company products, and even customer-driven marketing.

The paradox is that what we often think drives happiness in fact does not. So how do we design organizations and brands with happiness in mind?

The case presents four principles for achieving that goal:

1. Higher Purpose: Feeling you are part of something meaningful. Achieved when you feel part of something bigger than yourself, and where the shared goal matters significantly. We feel happier when our short-term and long-term goals are aligned.
2. Autonomy: Perceiving that you are in control of your future path, able to work on things you are good at and learn new skills. Achieved when you feel you have the trust from yourself and others to make decisions critical to your work.
3. People: Cultivating meaningful relationships. Achieved through shared experiences where collaboration is productive, innovative and/or fun.
4. Impact: Having your work impact the lives of others. Achieved when you feel valued and see the concrete, measurable and positive difference that your actions have on others. It is also a feeling of momentum and seeing your skills utilized toward the goal of excellence.

At the end of the day, I come back to the big 3;

1. Someone to love.
2. Something to do.
3. Something to dream of.

You can catch my discussion with Juergen, “What is the Business Case for Happiness?”, here . . .  

You can read Nico Rosberg’s post on happiness here . . . . 

You can read “The Business Case for Happiness” by Jennifer Aaker, Sara Gaviser Leslie and Debra Schifrin at Stanford here . . . 

3 Questions on Purpose and Happiness

Thanks for reading . . .