Joy at Work Thinking
Written by Roxanne Brown
Have you ever felt joy in your work even though you’re doing something that’s hard, maybe even painful? That’s a consistent theme out of our Joy Research.
An initial conclusion:
Joy at Work is…
Often work that is hard and takes a lot out of...
Written by Roxanne Brown
Leaders often want more change than their team can handle. That’s because they have a vision they want to see come to life. They can see it! They also know it cannot happen without their people. They regularly wrestle with patience, openness to how change...
Written by Roxanne Brown
When someone leaves the company, it’s not just about that person. It’s about that person and all of the people that are impacted by their departure.
Even if the person’s departure is a relief, it’s still a loss. Even if a person’s...
Written by Roxanne Brown
When we ask people to describe the best team they’ve ever led or been part of, they usually say things like:
• We had each other’s back
• We had a hard goal to overcome and we were clear on the destination
• It was hard but we all focused
...
Written by Ed Cook
Trust shows up frequently as a corporate value, a desirable commodity. It is inscribed on our money (“In God We Trust”) and in our nation’s official motto. But for something that is valued so highly, organizations struggle to explain what...
Written by Roxanne Brown
When you’re leading change, how do you know you’re getting anywhere? How do you measure progress?
Measuring change progress does not need to be exact. It only needs to be directionally correct to lead to useful and actionable insights. The best place to...
Written by Roxanne Brown
Change can grow joy. An executive we spoke with recently referred to change as the destroyer of joy. It’s such a fascinating statement when you consider some of the phrases we use in business:
- Disruptive innovation
- Failing fast
- Digital transformation
These...
Written by Roxanne Brown
In every Joy Research interview with a CEO or senior leader, we always ask this question at the end…
“If we’re successful in our research, what questions would you wish we could answer?”
Here are a few they’ve given:
• Is joy the...
Written by Roxanne Brown
When Ed presented his decision analysis PhD research at INFORMS (Institute of Operations Research and the Management Sciences) conferences, no one asked about the math. What they asked was, “How did you get the organization to implement the decision?”
...
Written by Roxanne Brown
Joy at Work for…
- Career path planning: How do you want work to feel? What work cultures do you thrive in? What companies, industries or types of work have these cultures?
- Job interviewing: What tells you the company, team or job role will be a place you can...
Written by Roxanne Brown
There’s a fine line between gratitude and superiority. The subtext of “I am grateful for all I have” versus “I am superior because of all I have.” It’s all about the intent. It’s why sometimes the offer of help is seen as a...
Written by Ed Cook
The words leader and manager often are used interchangeably, and with that slipshod usage, their individual meanings can be lost. Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis are often quoted as saying:
“Management is doing the things right and Leadership is doing the...
