Creative Reaction

As I was writing the previous post, The Power of Happiness, I noticed Harvard Business Publishing’s Discussion Leader Blog was also linking to the same research. They add a managerial perspective to the discussion in Why You Need to Be a Happier Manager.

The post links to other articles on the contagious happiness study from NYT and Time Magazine, and then offers these tips for managers (which I’ve summarized):

• Resolve to cheer - It is a leader’s obligation to spread confidence.
• Pick your moments - Especially when people need encouragement.
• Keep on doing it - Persevere.

“A happy workplace… (makes) coming to work a more pleasant experience. Productivity even improves, and so too does engagement.”

Happiness does not make up for an organization’s shortcomings, though along with a great product and excellent service, it is clearly an ingredient for success.

It seems happiness is a powerful force, not only affecting people we meet, but also cascading outward through up to three degrees of separation. Being Happy Affects Even Those You Don’t Know, details research carried out over a twenty-year period, offering these astonishing findings.

Study co-author James Fowler says, “To think about the way we’re connected to one another has caused me to take more responsibility for my own actions… If I head home in a happy mood, I’m not just making my son happy, I’m potentially making my son’s friend happy. I’m not just making my wife happy, I’m making my wife’s mother happy.”

Managers and owners, you can already tell where I’m going with this. (See Attitude Adjustment, the Day-to-Day Management Affects Creativity series, Part I, Part II and Part III  and Negativity is Poison!)

The more I read about George Gilder, the more I love this guy. In an article he wrote last month for Forbes Magazine, he states, “The crucial conflict in every economy… is not between rich and poor, Main Street and Wall Street, or even government and the private sector. It is between the established system and the new forms of wealth rising up to displace it”. (Italics mine)

“The real source of all growth is human creativity and entrepreneurship, which always comes as a surprise to us, especially in the worst of times”.

It’s not so much that difficulties lead to creativity, but that those who persevere (as opposed to those who scale back and hunker down) are the ones who think all the more creatively until they have a breakthrough.

“Because the U.S. remains the world’s largest economy and still leads the world in business and technological creativity, the current crisis is mostly confined to boondoggles of finance. It will pass rapidly and evolve into a new boom”.

(The remainder of the article will only be of interest to Tech investors.)

I share in this outlook and in Gilder’s optimism. During the last bubble-burst, while its competitors were cutting back and laying people off, Apple (then “Apple Computer”) publicly stated that its strategy would be to innovate to carry itself through difficult times. Think about where they are now.

Not a lot of CR blog fodder from 37Signals lately, until this caught my attention last week. Hire managers of one offers some great advice for the small, creative business owned and managed by an artist (used loosely) who would rather be doing what he loves than having to deal with the business of business. Clearly the business is important, though following 37Signals’ advice allows one to “to work more and manage less”.

I tend to keep my personal/business life out of my blogging because I honestly want it to be for my readers and not about me, though since I dropped down to only a post each week in October and *none* (ouch!) in November, I should at least offer an explanation.

I mentioned trying to squeeze twenty hours into a busy week to study for a certification exam way back on September 18th in Taking Care of Yourself is Taking Care of Business, which led to admittance into an Apple Advanced Training Camp for which I started another blog, then I studied for another certification exam. The Camp (in early November) lasted a week, which led to a backlog of work, and all the while I’ve seen a significant increase in business. So I’m not being lazy – I’m just experiencing some growing pains. Time to climb back on. Oh, and I’m re-reading the above post.