In This Episode

Neuroscientist, Emiliana Simon Thomas, the science director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC, Berkeley., and edX “Science of Happiness” course instructor, and Wisdom Labs’ Parneet Pal discuss happiness in the workplace. Emiliana shares tools to design a workday for optimizing happiness, the difference between moments of positive emotion and overall happiness, the importance of relying on each other, and how the essence of being human is doing things together.

Conversation includes: How helping others fuels motivation at work, the importance of leaders creating a culture of psychological safety, active and effective ways to manage conflict, and how we think about where happiness comes from.

Links:

• Daniel Kahneman on Objective Happiness
• Adam Grant and Francesca Gino Research
• Work relationships and Well-Being
• Social Baseline Theory
• Dr. Tina Opie
• Study on Conflict management at Work
• Cardiovascular Costs of Emotion Suppression
• Walking and Conflict Management
• David DeSteno
• Morten T. Hansen on Doing Less
• Francis J. Flynn
• Teresa Amabile Books
• edX Courses

Show Notes

• 00:54 – Thinking About Happiness The Wrong Way
• 2:58  – Broader Perspectives of Happiness
• 5:03  – The Limitations of The World Happiness Report
• 6:28 – A Leader’s Responsibility for Happiness at Work
• 8:21 – The Benefits of a Kind Workplace
• 9:24 – The Pillars of Happiness
• 10:14 – Optimizing the Workday for Happiness
• 12:04 – The Power of a Positive Mindset and Intention
• 12:41 – The Meaning of Helping Others as Fuel for Motivation
• 15:18 – Why Are Relationships So Important?
• 17:17 – The Social Baseline Theory
• 19:44 – Creating a Culture of Psychological Safety
• 20:18 – Empathy and Compassion
• 20:50 – The Power of Conscious Authenticy
• 22:34  – Authentic Leadership
• 23:20 – Managing Conflict at Work
• 25:23 – Avoidance is The Short Road to Burnout
• 25:50 – “Walking Through” Conflict
• 27:37 – Synchronized Movement and Empathy
• 29:00 – Overview of a Good Workday
• 29:23 – Can a Company “Perk” It’s Way to Employee Happiness?
• <30:59 – Work Perks That Improve Resilience and Increase Flow
• 34:35 – Modeling Work Life Harmony
• 35:02 – How Attonomy Creates Meaning
• 36:34 – The Myth of Overworking and Artificial Intelligence
• 39:15 – Ending Your Day Well with “Three Small Wins”
• 40:34 – Lightness and Levity at Work
• 42:02 – Training Your Mind for Happiness
• 42:37 – Courses from Emiliana and Team