Can we fake happiness? 

According to the excellent presentation by Dan Gilbert:

Our “psychological immune system” lets us feel real, enduring happiness, he says, even when things don’t go as planned. He calls this kind of happiness “synthetic happiness,” and he says it’s “every bit as real and enduring as the kind of happiness you stumble upon when you get exactly what you were aiming for.” 

According to this article in Times:

“We’re wired to be optimistic. Most people think they’re happier than most [other] people.” And even if you aren’t part of that lucky majority, Bates says, there’s always that other 50% of overall life satisfaction that, according to his research, is not genetically predetermined. To feel happier, he recommends mimicking the personality traits of those who are: Be social, even if it’s only with a few people; set achievable goals and work toward them; and concentrate on putting setbacks and worries in perspective. Don’t worry, as the saying goes. Be happy.”

Why is it more fun to work for one company compared to another? Obviously it has to do with the office environment. With that I don’t mean only the way the office looks. Although the office design will help tremendously to convey a message of “can-do attitude” or energy, it will not be the main key to happiness in the office.

First and foremost it is the lack of management: with this one in particular:

“Management doesn’t have or take the time to clarify goals and decisions. Therefore, it rejects work after it was completed, damaging the morale and esteem of those who prepared it.”

According to this article the key is for management to provide the employees with so called “strokes”:

“Here’s a true story that explains the source of the term, ’stroke.’ An orphanage in Romania had 50 infants with only two nurses to care for them night and day. It took all the nurses time and energy to prepare the formula and feed the babies. They had to prop the babie’s bottles up on a pillow, insert the nipple in their mouth and go on to the next baby. The babies were well fed, they were warm and kept clean. Outside of this, they received no attention. The mortality rate was enormous. 

A solution was found When Renee Spitz studied the problem at this and similar orphanages. Autopsies of deceased infants revealed that the baby’s spines were shriveled up. The doctors prescribed physical stroking for new babies. Volunteers came in and simply stroked each infant. These babies survived. From these studies, the term ’strokes’ was conceived. Although the strokes given the infants where physical, the term was expanded to include psychological strokes because they have effects similar to physical strokes. A psychological stroke is any kind of attention — a greeting, a look, a word, a gesture, or any act that says “I know you’re here.” 

Strokes are essential Not only for high self-esteem, they are essential for emotional and physical health. The power of strokes varies from a weak nod from a stranger to intense love between lovers. 

People hunger for strokes And will go to surprising lengths to satisfy that hunger. You need to have your stroke hunger satisfied to feel good about yourself and have high self-esteem. ”

Managers should learn to use positive strokes and employees should learn to deal with the negative strokes. I guess this all is another way of describing WorkVitamins.

Here are some of the best answers from my Linkedin Question: (I received a total of 28 answers)

"It would be a myth if most people actually believed it was possible, but their actions dictate that they don’t. Ironically, the technology is available now to make the paperless office a reality, but it will require a cultural change and a change in work habits to be fully realized. With software available for electronic archiving, email, digital signature, workflow, electronic forms, versioning, collaboration, retention, annotations, bate stamping, RFID, and a host of authenitication and security features, it is conceivable that an office could be paperless today. One of the biggest challenges for those pursuing a paperless office is that they do business with so many people who are NOT pursuing a paperless office. But they continue to do their part — I know of companies that have removed staplers, printers and copiers and I even know of one company who will terminate any employee caught printing email. Those who are serious about being paperless are enforcing their policies and slowly changing the corporate culture. These companies who have invested in the right technology and enforce policy are seeing a financial return in both hard and soft dollars."  Tom Talamantez

"I think what we will see is that paper will become a very transitory medium, rather than a medium of storage for information. People like to deal with paper. It is portable (for the most part), you can read it with no technology, and you can easily mark it up. You don’t have to charge a battery, upgrade software, or wait for paper to boot up. There is an ease of use and oftentimes, a very nice user interface, in the rawest sense of that term.From a legal standpoint, the electronic version of a paper document will become the evidence that is required. electronic records are easier to search and you can cast a far wider net more efficiently with electronic records. So from a legal standpoint, I suspect that electronic records will be preferred.

Therefore, over time, I expect that the long term retention of paper records as records of an organization will decline. But people will continue to print documents for review and portability."  Patrick Cunningham

" Switch the focus from paperless to paperlight.

As a paperless office consultant, my philosophy is to enable businesses to take steps towards this ideal by gradually phasing as much paper as possible out of their day-to-day business processes. I call it going paperlight rather than paperless - by which I mean that a business can dramatically reduce its paper consumption (and all the wasted time and resources that accompany it) just by re-educating people and streamlining their paper handling processes.

Ultimately, every business is keen to save time and money – many are now also more aware of their environmental impact or carbon footprints – and going paper-light is the solution to all of these common objectives. Despite common misconceptions, it IS easily achievable and not at great expense.

I believe that many of the current paper-based processes and documents in every average office will eventually become obsolete as people increasingly become aware that you can achieve twice as much in half the time by handling things electronically. Unfortunatley, many people are discouraged by the concept of going paperless since they think it is an all or nothing committment which it does not need to be. In my opinion, with a little awareness and training, every business has much to gain and nothing to lose by embracing a paper-light approach to everyday business practices." Carrie Bradley

Thanks to all the others who answered.

My question at Linkedin. What do you think?

I have been preaching this for some time: the office should feel like home. Interesting to read this at our friends at Shedworking:

Office transformation specialist Morgan Lovell claim there is a new design trend for homely comforts in the office which is "turning the traditional world of British business on its head". They claim that introducing homely touches such as comfy sofas, chill-out areas, staff snapshots – and even a games console - can aid motivation and act as a platform for innovation. MD David Henderson said:

“The ‘office at home’ style is designed to instill team spirit, make employees more comfortable in the workplace and create an innovative atmosphere. The concept has come to the UK from the USA where it has been used to create inspirational environments, particularly in hi-tech industries such as IT.”

This boils down to:
* ‘break out’ areas with low level lighting and booth style seating
* television screens and decorative wall coverings to create a sense of lounge living plus displaying locally produced art in domestic style shelving and bookcases with a broad range of titles
* members of staff are also encouraged to bring pictures of themselves as youngsters for a family-style notice board, while another area includes comfy sofas and a games console where staff can exercise their competitive spirit.
* smaller desks have been introduced to encourage greater interaction and meeting rooms built to enable informal, impromptu meetings.
* fruit platters are prepared every day and lunch is brought in on the first Friday of every month so that everyone can get together and talk

Linkedin, the social website that is more business network orientated, has an interesting new feature, where members can ask, as well as answer questions. As I have more of a Question-asker kind of mentality, I wondered "why most work environments are so ugly?"

I rated Pieter Van Der Elst’s answer as the best. This is what he wrote:

" Dear Martin,

I completely understand the reason of your question.

People around the world put time/ effort and money in creating a home-interior that reflects their personality.
But when it comes to office-interior, most organisations tent to make "safe" choices.

In my opinion, there are 2 main reasons for this.

1st, an office environment needs to fit for each and every employee who’s working at that site.
Person A will love that fresh,flashy green wall and person B will hate that ugly, yet exactly the same, colour.
Therefore, most employers will go for a safe choice, the type of office that you, me and most of us reading this answer have probably seen a thousand times.

Secondly, I think there’s an historical fact as well.
Our society has moved from a production-environment to a "knowledge environment". Thus, the role of "the employee" has changed from producing to communicating.
Just think about the way our parents used to work, and the way you are working today. Even better, think about the way our children will work in a few years time.

(You might want to read "The New Office" by Francis Duffy on this topic)

Unfortunately, the working-environment hasn’t changed as quickly as the job we do.
Communication technology as a good example; has evolved at an amazing speed, (mobile-phones, email, WIFI…) so people can work virtually anyware, yet most companies have not yet taken the step to create that environment that enhances the communication between colleaugues, departments…
And is that not exactly what we do, every single day at work. Communicate?

And this is where you have a valid point when asking your question.
This is exactly where companies have to take the next step and adapt the working-environment they offer their (future) employees.

It is my believe that offering an attractive office will create a huge benefit for most organisations to improve their retention-rate, and to attract a talented workforce…(An issue that is rising for many companies) and enhance their productivity.

Best regards,

Pieter"

Pieter had it spot on, as he understood why I asked the question in the first place. I was not looking for solutions, as I believe that to be one of the reasons why so many of the offices we see to be so ugly in the first place. It is not (only) about design, it is about company culture, communication and team dynamics. Design will not be able to cover the lack of that.

…to be continued…

1. What should I look for first in a designer?

First and foremost, you must find a designer you feel comfortable with. Design is not an easy process and your designer is not there to be your friend. Having said that, however, you can certainly choose a designer whom you feel respects your individuality, opinions, and self. You must be able to trust your designer 100% and if you cannot and feel like you have to lie to your designer or withhold important information, you are not going to get any real help. You must also feel, in some respects and at some point in the design process, that actually going to your designer is helping you. If you do not feel relief from your office problems, you may not be getting the best design available. Look for these types of warning signs as reasons to think about choosing another designer if you are already in the design process. Never ask for a desgn competition!

2. What if I can’t afford a designer?
If you cannot afford a designer, don’t expect that furniture companies to be the next best thing. They often have no design training and are less experienced than designers. Watch out, as after a dozen years in the field or so, the furniture companies’ plans create to the untrained eye a less noticeable difference to the "real thing". An ethical and professional designer will attack your decision to use a furniture company to design your office. Don’t be firm with this kind of designer and try to raise your budget, as the furniture company might thrown in the design for "free", but as you know nothing in life comes really for free!

3. Okay, so I’ve made the plunge and signed up with a designer. What should I expect now?
You will likely be told a little about financial information you should bring with you on your first appointment over the phone. Bring it and expect to fill out a few forms . The first session, sometimes called an Initiation Session usually is very unlike what you can expect of all of your following sessions. During it, you will be asked to explain why you want to work with a designer (e.g.- What’s wrong at this point in your life?), what kind of symptoms you might be experiencing (e.g.- can’t work proporly, work environment looks hopeless, desk to small, need much more privacy, want a leather chair etc.), and your company market position and history. When this session is completed, and the designer has a beginning understanding of you and what goes to make up the important things in your office, as well as your current difficulties, he or she should ask you if you have any questions for them. If you do, please feel free to ask them (and ask them even if the designer forgets to offer this).

4. Okay, so now I’ve begun the design process  and feel comfortable with the designer I’ve chosen. How long should this take and what should I expect the course of design to be like?
While this might seem like an easy question, it is the most difficult to answer since offices vary widely with their own business type, severity of the problem, and other factors such as number of staff and size of space. For mild problems, treatment should be relatively brief and will likely end within 3-6 months. For more severe problems (especially chronic or long-term difficulties), it’s going to take longer. Some designs can even last up to a year or more. The choice once you decided to use a designer is not yours anymore, as you  do not want to end the design halfway through. If you feel you’ve benefited as much as you’d like, you can tell the designer always so at end accordingly. A good designer will appreciate your decision.

5. I’ve read about "design goals" in Cosmopolitan. What is that and what if my designer doesn’t use them?
I feel strongly that all designer should use design goals, but there is no one standard in the field. Naturally, if you start the design with particular problems or difficulties in your office, you would like to have them solved. Design goals, especially ones that are formalized and written down, ensure that both you and your designer are on the same "track" and working on the same problems. Also, by occasionally reviewing said goals, you can chart your progress (or lack thereof) in the design and work with your designer to change design if need be.

Remember, always keep in mind the most important key is to having a good design experience. Find a designer you feel comfortable with talking to and feel he or she is helping you work through your problems. Design isn’t meant to be easy, so if it is, that might be a sign that your designer or you are not working hard enough. Or worse you are dealing with a furniture company! Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself on this important issue and talk to your designer as often as need be until you find the right fit.

Good luck!