SN-Logo NewSN-Logo NewSN-Logo NewSN-Logo New
  • Scrum Courses
  • Agile Keynotes
  • Agile Books & Tools
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
0

CHF0.00

✕
MasterClass: Leadership Storyingtelling with Erwin van der Koogh
05-09-2012
Reflection on my MasterClass on Scrum Performance
08-10-2012

Introducing the World Happiness Index

Published by Peter Stevens on 01-10-2012
Categories
  • Uncategorized
Tags

“This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Three months ago, I came up with the idea for what is now the HappinessApp(tm) – a simple tool for recording your moments and moods and sharing them with your friends, family and co-workers. Together with a talented team from Brazil and now over 30 beta-testers, we are getting close to our first public release.

Since then I have learned a lot about happiness. “Motivation is a multiplier for velocity” observed Joe Justice, founder of WIKISPEED.

For most people though, work is not usually a source of happiness. Think assembly line. That’s work. It’s not fun. You do it because you need the money, and being seen to have too much fun on the job can be suspect.

But there’s a twist: Today’s work is increasingly Knowledge Work. As Jay Cross observed, knowledge work usually is more like a conversation than traditional assembly-line work, and conversation is second only to sex as source of happiness. As anyone who as listened to the laughter of a typical Agile team knows, work can be fun!

So work is changing quite fundamentally, and the relationship between happiness, work, and business success is growing stronger all the time. Understanding happiness will be more important than ever before: understanding your happiness, your staff’s happiness, and your customers’ happiness.

I realized the HappinessApp could do more than just record and share moments of happiness and despair. The scores from the HappinessApp could be combined to create a national or global happiness index. It could create a whole new understanding of Human Happiness!

Imagine if instead of focusing on Gross National Product, politicians would optimize the National Happiness Index, so that you and most of your countrymen are happier at the end of the year than at the beginning. What would it be like to live in country run that way? Are Americans happier than Europeans, or women happier than men? How does people’s happiness change with age? Is there a change in happiness before or after major events, like a FIFA World Cup, a change in leadership, or even a revolution. Every week, we could look at the data and ponder its meaning. What insights could we gain?

Happy Planet Index 2006 from Wikipedia

My vision is that we can visualize human happiness around the world, almost in real time.

With the upcoming beta release of the HappinessApp, we can now collect data for the World Happiness Index and participants can choose whether to participate. Soon we will post a website with the first results.

What is going to come of the World Happiness Index? I wish I had a crystal ball! What do you think will happen? What should happen?

Share
0
Peter Stevens
Peter Stevens

Related posts

Bureaucracy - the missing waste?

Bureaucracy - the missing waste?

14-03-2023

Meetings Magnify Multitasking


Read more
Switching Costs of Multitasking Eat Your Capacity

Switching Costs of Multitasking Eat Your Capacity

13-03-2023

3 Tips to Beat Multitasking


Read more
You can tell if it's a good meeting by whether people are reading their emails.

You can tell if it's a good meeting by whether people are reading their emails.

09-03-2023

Good Meetings FAQ


Read more

Comments are closed.

Learn more about Agile

  • Certified Scrum Product Owner | Face-2-Face | English | 230413-CP2
    in Zürich
    April 13, 2023 -
    April 14, 2023
    Register Now
  •  

  • Certified Scrum Master | Face-2-Face | English | May 22-23, 2023
    in Zürich
    May 22, 2023 -
    May 23, 2023
    Register Now
  •  

  • Certified Scrum Product Owner | Face-2-Face | English | Jun 15-16, 2023
    in Zürich
    June 15, 2023 -
    June 16, 2023
    Register Now
  •  

  • Certified Scrum Master | Face-2-Face | English | Jul 06-07, 2023
    in Zürich
    July 06, 2023 -
    July 07, 2023
    Register Now
  •  

High Performing Teams

  • Get Stuff Done
  • Get Right Stuff Done
  • Create Alignment
  • Leadership

Free Resources

  • Personal Agility Institute
  • Impressum
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Upcoming courses

  • Certified Scrum Product Owner | Face-2-Face | English | 230413-CP2 in Zürich
    April 13, 2023 -
    April 14, 2023
    Register Now
  • Certified Scrum Master | Face-2-Face | English | May 22-23, 2023 in Zürich
    May 22, 2023 -
    May 23, 2023
    Register Now
© 2020 Saat Network GmbH. All Rights Reserved.
    0

    CHF0.00

      ✕

      Login

      Lost your password?

      We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
      Read more about our Privacy Policy
      Cookie SettingsAccept All
      Manage consent

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
      Necessary
      Always Enabled
      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
      CookieDurationDescription
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
      viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
      Functional
      Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
      CookieDurationDescription
      mailchimp_landing_site1 monthThe cookie is set by MailChimp to record which page the user first visited.
      Performance
      Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
      Analytics
      Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
      CookieDurationDescription
      CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
      _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
      _gat_gtag_UA_42152348_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
      _gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
      _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
      Advertisement
      Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
      CookieDurationDescription
      NID6 monthsNID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads.
      test_cookie15 minutesThe test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
      VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
      YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
      yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
      yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
      Others
      Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
      CookieDurationDescription
      COMPASS1 hourNo description
      cookies.jssessionNo description available.
      S1 hourNo description available.
      SAVE & ACCEPT
      Powered by CookieYes Logo