Moved by the suffering he saw in the world,
a young prince reasoned that if he could kill desire he would be eternally happy. A
teacher’s voice rings through the ages “You lack one thing: go sell all that
you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow me”. The prince was Buddha and the teacher was Jesus.
Western thought philosophers have concerned
themselves with the nature of happiness. According to Aristotle, it is for the
sake of happiness that we all do everything else we do. John Stuart Mill and
David Hume both held the view that the best society was one that had the
greatest happiness for the greatest number.
The philosophy of happiness entered in
politics and governance when US president Thomas Jefferson drafted the words of
the in the American Declaration of Independence about life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. Jefferson believed that happiness was the only legitimate
objective of good government.
Many years ago, I thought there was an easy
and tidy line between what one did, i.e., work for which one was paid and what
made one happy. St. Augustine conceived happiness as the standard for all
actions, not a means to an end. It is becoming increasingly clear that we need
a very different model of our humanity. The proponents for a reformulation of
the essence of our humanity have faulted material progress or monetary gains as
a grossly limited formulation for measuring the sum of our worth and
achievement.
The foundations of our conception of humans
as purely rational thinkers, directed by conscious decisions have been shaken
by the work of Daniel Kahneman. In his
book, Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahneman argues that we are combination of whim
and rational thought, conscious and unconscious decision-making.
At a more fundamental level, happiness is
the essence of our humanity. Going back to the subject of work for a moment, I
have come to understand that it is not just doing something, which pays the
most, but doing something that makes one really happy. But I am sure that if
you are an employer or employee you might be interested in this. Economists
have shown that people, who are happier, at work, earn more money and are 12
percent more productive at work.
Professor Ruut Veenhoven, Dutch Sociologist
and pioneer happiness economist has shown that happiness is connected to
economics and more. For instance it has been shown that happiness begets higher
productivity and protects health. It has also been shown that happy people are
more tolerant, which reduces aggression and social strife. Happy people make
good citizens, who cheat less on their taxes. Moreover, happy citizens are less
extremists in the political views and are more informed citizens.
The Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index
showed in 2011 that between 2008 and 2011 Americans felt worse about their jobs
and work environment than ever before. Across all ages and income levels, employees
were apathetic about their organizations and detached from what they did. But
here is why you must listen up if you are an employer.
Studies have shown that lower job
satisfaction is a harbinger of poorer bottom-line corporate performance. According
to Gallup, the cost of America’s work place apathy was a staggering $300 billion
in lost productivity annually. When people do not care about their jobs or
their employers their work quality suffers and they produce less.
As adults we
spend most of our waking hours at work. Work should ennoble, not annihilate,
the human spirit. Advancing and investing in employees’ well-being isn’t just nice
and ethical; it determines your bottom-line and makes economic sense.
For employers,
you do not get more productivity by paying more. Companies have increased
income five fold not with bonuses but with compassion, good communication and
greater autonomy. And in the words of Winston Churchill, we make a living by
what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Happiness and
fulfillment come less from the scale of our material wealth and more from
relationships we build. This reminds me of the king of Phrygia and his request
to the Greek god Dionysus. King Midas asked that whatever he touched turn into
gold. His wish was granted. But the king soon realized that it was a curse.
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