What is the Happiness Advantage?
Our most commonly held formula for success is broken.
Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe. For instance:
- Doctors put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis show almost three times more intelligence and creativity than doctors in a neutral state, and they make accurate diagnoses 19% faster (Estrada, Isen & Young, 1997).
- Optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56% (Seligman, 1991).
- Happy workers have higher levels of productivity, produce higher sales, perform better in leadership positions, and receive higher performance ratings and higher pay. They also enjoy more job security and are less likely to take sick days, to quit, or to become burned out (Lyubomirsky, et al., 2005).
It turns out that our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but whey they are positive. That means that organizations actively working to enhance employee happiness gain a significant competitive advantage.