Out running on Sunday morning I saw two magpies. Remember 'one for sorrow, two for joy ...' the magpie rhyme? It came to mind then and also reminded me of the point that someone made at the Culturevist meeting earlier in the week. She'd said 'We don't talk much about happiness at work'. (The meeting was on Redesigning Performance Management – in most current designs a source of much unhappiness).
I think she's right. We don't talk much about happiness at work. We seem to act on the assumption that it's a good thing. So instead of trying to talk about what it is and consider whether it is a helpful workplace construct, we try and 'do' happiness, and bunches of consultants are ready to leap in and help us with just that.
One, for example 'believes that happiness is a serious business. Research shows that happiness and wellbeing at work is the foundation of a productive and optimised organization and makes a real difference to a company's bottom line'. I wonder where the research comes from? Could it be the 2014 research report from Warwick University which suggests that fostering happiness at work is a 'must do' because 'In the laboratory, they found happiness made people around 12% more productive'.