>> The pursuit of happiness
The pursuit of
centring and rediscovery of self lies at
the heart of modern day mindfulness
practices.
When world leaders collectively sat in
a mindfulness session at Davos earlier
this year, a stunned business world
was forced to reflect that this meditation
>> Can mindfulness increase happiness in your
life and effectiveness at work?
H
appiness, once the domain of
ancient Greek philosophers,
spiritual gurus and 1960s
hippies, has made a surprise comeback as behavioural scientists grapple
to find something concrete about its
nature in our lives. The pursuit of
happiness implies we are chasing some
elusive quality which when pinned down
will magically give our lives deeper
meaning. Yet, can it ever be defined,
and, for that matter, does happiness
have a place in management today?
During appraisals the question is often
asked: are you happy in your job?
But, how do you define what makes
you happy in the workplace, or at
home? As you chase your tail during a
stressful round of business phone calls,
meetings and emails: does happiness
lurk in that amazing deal you have
landed, or is it found on your children’s
faces when you finally get home for the
first time that week in time to tuck them
into bed?
Genetic scientists are now confirming
what the ancient Greeks and eastern
based religions have understood for
thousands of years: that a fleeting state
of happiness does not give the same
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depth of well-being that a more centred,
internalised state can provide.
In fact, researchers at the University
of North Carolina and University of
California (UCLA) have found that
although Hedonism (the pleasure
principle part of life) is said to improve
how happy we are, its deeper
counterpart, Eudaimonia (the ancient
Greek concept of a more contented
internalised form of happiness) can
actually change our bodies at a genetic
level.
Looking at the biological influence of
hedonic and eudaimonic well-being
through the human genome, the
scientists were interested in the pattern
of gene expression within people’s
immune cells. They were surprised to
find that eudaimonic well-being was,
indeed, associated with a significant
decrease in the stress-related CTRA
gene expression profile. In contrast,
hedonic well-being was associated
with a significant increase in the CTRA
profile.
In other words, the hedonistic pursuit
of happiness approach, a belief that
happiness is something we take in from
the outside world, is actually not good
for our health and, long term, equates
with stress. Whereas eudaimonic
projects, such as charitable giving
or mentoring, make you feel good all
over and leave a lasting and rewarding
satisfaction because you give from
within.
Before you start thinking ‘this seems
all Greek to me’, consider what really
creates meaning in the workplace.
How long are we really satisfied with
incentivising objects, packages and
experiences like the latest gadget,
top of the range car or yet another
expensive holiday before we find
ourselves craving, like all well-trained
consumers, the next hedonistic ‘fix’?
‘thing’ might have some viable impact
on management style and practice.
Already major corporate names, such
as Google, AOL, General Mills and
even the US army, have discovered
that when harnessed, mindfulness
can develop less stressed executives
who not only report they are feeling
happier, both at work and at home, but
whose performance also increases.
Impressive statistics underline its knockon effect on profit margins and other
tell-tale signs of corporate well-being, or
what is popularly becoming known as
Eudaimonics.
Cranfield’s Praxis Centre, renowned for
holistic leadership and management
development, has recently launched a
programme which teaches mindfulness
as a creative management training
tool. The two-day programme ‘Mindful
Executive: cognitive decision-making
for the wise leader’ gives stressed
executives the opportunity to rediscover
that inner core sense of self and
learn a set of practices that can give
deeper control over decision-making
which, in turn, will empower them both
professionally and personally. As the
leaders at Davos showed that pursuing
happiness definitely has a place in
management today and is now high on
the business agenda. MF
Laura Payne and Jon Treanor are
visiting lecturers in the Praxis
Centre at Cranfield.
The leaders at Davos
showed that pursuing
happiness definitely
has a place in
management today.
After the last five tough years in
Western corporate life, executives
who have been financially ruined can
answer that question easily. Once
the economic tsunami washed away
the trappings of a wealthy life, many
executives found that they had to turn
to something within, to the seed core
of being, to discover something that
is permanent and lasting; namely a
meaningful, constant state to which one
can always return safely. This focus on
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