02/25/2013

Happiness and its relationship in the workplace could be considered one of the common themes between Shawn Anchor and Chip Conley. Both and Conley spoke about positivity and its impact on whatever it is you are measuring. As Sean related this more to creating a positive work environment, Chip more so focused on measuring that perceived “happiness” and how it can affect various parts of the organization. Although the idea between the two seems similar, the ways in which they are applied can be very different. Shawn Anchor, a graduate and past professor of Harvard University started a company named, “Good Think Inc.” which focuses primarily on providing researched based, instructional, and inspirational speakers for business and universities around the world. His goal is to create the inspiration to provide a positive work environment where employees find happiness, and then are able to pass that along to the customer. This results in more productive and efficient teams, as well as creating long term, lasting relationships based off the customer’s positive experience with the company. This positive experience can boost overall moral of the company, and in turn boost sales; in short, a happier workplace, results in a more healthy and profitable company or organization.
Chip on the other hand came from a bit different of background. He graduated from Stanford University, and very soon after began his on company named Joie De Vivre. His mission was to create joy. By creating joy in his own company, he was able to spread this to the guests of the hotels and over the couple decades it grew into the second largest boutique hotel group in the nation. Later, he took what he had learned from his own company and decided to share it with others. Chip wants to transform business practices and incorporate more “intangible questions” into how companies evaluate themselves. He touched on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and how it can be converted to apply to today’s business models. He even came up with his own model, which he named the Transformation Pyramid. It took Maslow’s five components and condensed them into three major areas. Beginning at the bottom and working upwards they included: Survival, Success, & Transformation. He believed that an organization needed to measure where it currently sat in terms of not only raw data, but also the so-called “immeasurables.” By being able to measure things like employee as well as customer views on a company, why they enjoyed what they did, where they’re looking to be down the road, etc. it created a bottom line to look for improvement.
Say employee morale was low; Shawn Anchor could come in and talk more about positivity in the workplace, in turn changing, or transforming the company into a healthier state of being. This healthier state of being could then help boost sales, and potentially assist in the growth of the company, all in part due to measuring it’s current state beyond just the numbers and being able to adapt appropriately it can be a great benefit to the long term health of a company.
Much of what both Shawn and Chip have to say are similar, but I think of their approaches more as going hand in hand with one another. After working with a corporate company for the past few years, I know what it is like to have Chip’s attempts at measuring the immeasurable applied upon in a company. Each quarter we are asked to take part in surveys which evaluate our colleagues, management team, overall morale of the store, and areas for improvement. After the results are delivered, we have people similar to Shawn come in and address any associated issues that came up. And going a step further, many companies today are asking for input back from customers whether its from in-store, or online experience. I believe that many of today’s companies are recognizing the values of what both Shawn and Chip spoke about, and are applying it to their business. In today’s fast paced and highly communicative environment, customer satisfaction has reached an entirely new level of importance. By evaluating and then promoting positive psychology, it is my belief that the information these two are presenting are becoming the new standard and anyone who does not follow will soon become obsolete.