Achieving Greater Success & Happiness
September 2013
Joseph S. O’Hannigan
Director, Learning Solutions, 4:11 Business Associates
Senior Associate Director, Custom & International Programs,
Stayer Center for Executive Education, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
Agenda
Sunday afternoon
• Success
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& Happiness
The small stuff
Thriving spirits are capable and happy
What if I’m not there, yet?
The people (human connections)
Psychological/ neurological foundations
Understand and embrace the “stage” in which you find yourself
• How is this connected?
• Connections between happiness, creativity, productivity, and success
• Now what?” Additional Application
General ideas about happiness
Happiness may flow from:
 Living with purpose and mission
 Becoming the best version of yourself
(realizing your potential)
 Feeling capable
 Adding value, and knowing that you are
making a difference
 Recognizing what’s important
 What people crave
 What we fear
©Charles M Schultz
What makes you happier?
Much of the research (of the last 20 years) confirms things we’ve
always suspected.
For example, in general,
 People who are in good romantic relationships are happier
than those who aren’t.
 Healthy people are happier than sick people.
 People who participate in their churches are happier than
those who don’t.
 Rich people are happier than poor people.
(Source: The Science Behind The Smile, Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
What was an unexpected discovery?
…while all these things do make people happier, it’s
astonishing how little any one of them matters
…people are not very good at predicting what will make
them happy and how long that happiness will last
(Source: The Science Behind The Smile, Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
It’s the little things
The psychologist Ed Diener has a finding I really like. He essentially shows that
the frequency of your positive experiences is a
much better predictor of your happiness than is
the intensity of your positive experiences…
Somebody who has a dozen mildly nice things
happen each day is likely to be happier that
somebody who has a single truly amazing thing
happen.
(Source: The Science Behind The Smile, Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
It’s the little things (continued)
So
 wear comfortable shoes
 give your wife a big kiss
 sneak a french fry
It sounds like small stuff,
and it is.
But the small stuff matters.
(Source: The Science Behind The Smile, Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
Rapid Exercise
What are five “little things” you do,
or could do?
Three minutes individually, then three minutes to share in pairs
“What does this have to do with creativity &
innovation?”
By and large, happy people are more creative and more
productive
We know that people are happiest when they are
appropriately challenged
when they are trying to achieve goals that are difficult but not out of reach.
Challenge and threat are not the same thing.
People blossom when challenged and wither when threatened.
…no data showing that anxious, fearful employees are
more creative or productive.
(Source: The Science Behind The Smile, Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
Thriving: Take One
What makes sustainable individual and organizational performance?
Thriving.
…in which employees are not just satisfied and productive,
but also engaged in creating their future—the company’s & their own.
• 16% better overall performance
• 125% less burnout
• 46% more satisfied with their jobs
(Source: Creating Sustainable Performance, Gretchen Spreitzer & Christine Porath, Harvard Business Review,
January-February 2012)
Thriving: Take Two
…happiness on the job may depend more on our
moment-to-moment experiences
• our routine interactions with coworkers,
• the projects we’re involved in,
• our daily contributions,
than on the stable conditions thought to promote
happiness, such as a high salary or a prestigious title.
(Source: Creating Sustainable Performance, Gretchen Spreitzer & Christine Porath, Harvard Business Review,
January-February 2012)
Thriving: Take Three
• Happy employees produce more than unhappy
ones over the long term.
• They routinely show-up at work,
• they’re less likely to quit,
• they go above and beyond the call of duty,
• they attract people who are just as committed to
the job.
(Source: Creating Sustainable Performance, Gretchen Spreitzer & Christine Porath, Harvard Business Review,
January-February 2012)
Two components of thriving: Vitality and Learning
Vitality: the sense of being alive, passionate, and
excited.
 Employees who experience vitality spark energy in
themselves and others.
 Companies generate vitality by giving people the sense that
what they do on a daily basis makes a difference.
(Source: Creating Sustainable Performance, Gretchen Spreitzer & Christine Porath, Harvard Business Review,
January-February 2012)
Two components of thriving: Vitality and Learning
Learning: the growth that comes from gaining new
knowledge and skills.
~~~
Key take-aways about Vitality & Learning:
The two qualities work in concert; one without the other is
unlikely to be sustainable and may even damage performance
Creativity and innovation might fuel both!
(Source: Creating Sustainable Performance, Gretchen Spreitzer & Christine Porath, Harvard Business Review,
January-February 2012)
Two components of thriving: Vitality and Learning
Individual strategies for thriving:
 Take a break
 Craft your own work to be more meaningful
 Look for opportunities to innovate and to learn
 Invest in relationships that energize you
 Recognize that thriving can spill over outside the office
(Source: Creating Sustainable Performance, Gretchen Spreitzer & Christine Porath, Harvard Business Review,
January-February 2012)
Rapid Exercise
1. What strategy do you use,
or want to use?
2. What are three practical (little) things you can
do to advance that strategy, in the week ahead?
Three minutes individually, then five minutes to share in pairs
Can you change your happiness, your performance,
your state? You Bet!
• the habits you cultivate
• the way you interact with coworkers
• how you think about stress
(Source: Positive Intelligence, Shawn Achor, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
Simple. Disciplined. Powerful.
What can they (you) do to improve the happiness?
• Gratitude: Jot down three things
• Positivity: Write a message to someone in
their social support network
• Meditate: at their desk for two minutes
• Exercise: for 10 minutes
• Meaning: Take two minutes to journal the
most meaningful experience of the last day
(Source: Positive Intelligence, Shawn Achor, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
Thoughts. Actions. Habits.
The biggest key to happiness?
• Your “peeps”
• Social support network
• Your circle(s)
(Source: The Science Behind The Smile, Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
The biggest key to happiness (continued)
If I had to summarize all the scientific literature
on the causes of human happiness in one word,
that would be “social.”
If I wanted to predict your happiness… I’d want
to know about your social network—about your
friends and family and the strength of your
bonds with them.
(Source: The Science Behind The Smile, Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
The biggest key to happiness (continued)
Strong social support correlates with an
astonishing number of desirable outcomes.
…Social support was the greatest predictor of
happiness during periods of high stress
 Received
 Provided
(Source: Positive Intelligence, Shawn Achor, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)
Get the right circles of support
1. Inner circle: spouse
2. Middle circle: friends & family
3. Outer circle: fellow travelers
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Rapid Exercise
Assessing my “circles:”
1. Well defined?
2. Appropriately populated? Any I should shift?
3. Where am I, in others’ circles?
Five minutes individually, then five minutes to share in pairs
Deeper into the Psychology & Neuroscience
What and how we decide
Within less than a second…
people make what are called “spontaneous trait inferences…”
how people perceive and categorize others (friend or foe)…
warmth and competence…
accounts for 80% of our overall evaluation
of people
(Source: Dr. Amy Cuddy, quoted in “The Psyche on Automatic,” by Craig Lambert,
Harvard Magazine, November-December 2010)
Warmth & Competence
First and most important: does this person feel warm or cold to
me?
Then competence: how capable is this individual of carrying out
their intentions?
(Source: Dr. Amy Cuddy, quoted in “The Psyche on Automatic,” by Craig Lambert, Harvard Magazine, NovemberDecember 2010)
Competence
Competence is perceived to indicate ability
• one demonstrated example/behavior is quickly
generalized to wider competence
• one negative example (incompetence) is NOT
generalized, but excused
• We like (want) to be perceived as competent… first
and foremost!
(Source: Dr. Amy Cuddy, quoted in “The Psyche on Automatic,”
by Craig Lambert, Harvard Magazine, November-December 2010)
Warmth
Warmth is perceived to indicate character
• one nice gesture is NOT generalized to suggest
the actor is warm
• one ugly gesture (kick the dog) is quickly generalized
to indicate COLD
• We judge others, first and foremost, as warm or cold
(Source: Dr. Amy Cuddy, quoted in “The Psyche on Automatic,” by Craig Lambert, Harvard Magazine, NovemberDecember 2010)
Rapid Exercise
How others view you; have the people around you
tell you:
1. What’s a signal (verbal or non) that helps indicate your
competence?
2. What’s a signal (verbal or non) that helps indicate your warmth?
Now you tell them:
What’s a signal (behavior or habit) that I want to give to the world,
to express my competence or warmth?
Twenty minutes as a small group, 5 max per group
Warmth & Competence
Underneath our emotional/ intellectual reactions:
(Source: Dr. Amy Cuddy, quoted in “The Psyche on Automatic,” by Craig Lambert, Harvard Magazine, NovemberDecember 2010)
Perceptions of Warmth & Competence
Nonverbal cues drive our perceptions; dominance and
power are perceived as competence
 High testosterone (power and dominance hormone)
 Low cortisol (the stress hormone)
Posture:
Expansive, open
vs.
Contracting, minimizing
Two minutes of high- or low-power poses, before challenging task
produces a dramatic change in testosterone and cortisol
(Source: Dr. Amy Cuddy, quoted in “The Psyche on Automatic,” by Craig Lambert, Harvard Magazine, NovemberDecember 2010)
A simple, powerful acronym from Neuroleadership
SCARF
Enhances happiness or fear
(Source: SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others; David Rock
SCARF
1. Much of our motivation driving social behavior:
 minimizing threat(s)
 maximizing reward(s)
2. Social experience (behavior) draws upon the
same brain networks used in survival
So we have a threat response,
or an affinity response
(Source: SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others; David Rock
SCARF
Status: our relative importance to others;
status threat is a desire to not be perceived as less than another
• Performance reviews; “can I offer you some feedback?”
• If a leader wants to change others’ behavior, reduce
status threats when giving feedback
• Status can go up with positive feedback, public
acknowledgement
(Source: SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others; David Rock
C
S ARF
Certainty: ability to predict the future;
our brains are pattern recognition machines;
we want to reduce uncertainty
• Large uncertainty can be debilitating
• Remedies:
 as much clarity as is possible
 break down complex projects to simple steps
 establish clear expectations
(Source: SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others; David Rock
ARF
SC
Autonomy: a sense of control over events
• Strong correlations between a sense of control and
health outcomes
• Micro managed? Strong threat response
(Source: SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others; David Rock
R
SCA F
Relatedness: sense of safety with others;
“in” or “out” of a social group
• Oxytocin hormone associated with affiliative behavior;
• A handshake, swapping names, finding common
ground… all increase a sense of closeness
(Source: SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with
and influencing others; David Rock
F
SCAR
Fairness: perception of fair exchanges between
people
• Unfair exchanges? Experienced or observed, a strong
threat response
• Reduce unfairness perception with more transparency,
clear expectations
(Source: SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others; David Rock
Rapid Exercise
With respect to SCARF:
1. Where do you feel strong?
2. Where do you feel weak?
3. With whom might I discuss this for support and
suggestions?
Five minutes individually
Out of Psychology & Neuroscience, Back to Behavior
Another key: recognize & embrace your “stage”
Want to feel happy, “awesome?”
Achieve “awesomeness?”
Recognize and embrace “where you are:”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Learning
Editing
Mastering
Harvesting
Guiding
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Stages can be chronological
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Learning
Editing
Mastering
Harvesting
Guiding
In your 20s
30s
40s
50s
60s+
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Stages can be situational
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Learning
Editing
Mastering
Harvesting
Guiding
… Every time starting a new
project; chasing a new passion
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Average (behavior) vs. Awesome
“Average” is easy, and will not produce the
greatest happiness.
“Awesome” takes focus and dedication, but is
so worth the resulting joy…
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Short Cuts?
Not really. But you CAN:
•
•
•
•
Start earlier
Stand on the shoulders of giants
Work harder and smarter
Harvest someone else’s fields
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Stages
1. Learning
… Experiment
… Creativity & Innovation
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Stages
2. Editing
… What gives me the most joy?
… Value Attribution:
you get to decide what’s a diamond,
and what’s a rock
… Intentions are ambitious liars
… What feels “good?”
“great?”
“awesome?!”
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Stages
3. Mastering
… Are you willing to fight for your passion?
“It’s time to throw some elbows”
…Get experience (anywhere, with anyone)
…Do not promote yourself too much, yet
… “Haters” are inevitable
*Who said it?
*Why did they say it?
… build your own “Central Park”
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Stages
4. Harvesting
… How to be awesome… [in] just about
everything you do?
… don’t be a jerk
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Stages
5. Guiding (others)
… Seek clarity; be clear
… Start with “why?”
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Average (behavior) vs. Awesome
You will work harder at something you love than
something you like;
You will work harder than you have ever worked
when you start chasing a dream;
You will hustle and grind and sweat and push
and pull;
You will get up earlier and go to bed later.
But that’s ok, joy is an incredible alarm clock.
(Source: Start, Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters; John Acuff, 2013
Agenda Revisited
• Success & Happiness
• The small stuff
• Thriving spirits are capable and happy
• What if I’m not there, yet?
• The people (human connections)
• Psychological/ neurological foundations
• Understand and embrace the “stage” in which you
find yourself
Do you see…
… Connections between happiness,
creativity, productivity, and success?
Decision/ Application time
4:11 Business Associates
On the way of wisdom I direct you,
I lead you on straight paths.
When you walk your step will not be impeded,
And should you run, you will not stumble.
Hold fast to instruction, never let it go;
Keep it, for it is your life.
Proverbs 4: 11- 13
johannig@nd.edu