04 Sep Can you have too much happiness or positivity?
I wrote this article specifically for LinkedIn and the title over there was … “Can you have too much happiness or positivity at work?”
But then I realised that the same ideas would apply pretty much anywhere … at home, as a parent, as a friend even.
And so, I thought I’d share it here as well; I hope you enjoy it and find something useful herein …
There’s absolutely no doubt that happiness at work, or a positive workplace culture, provides numerous benefits.
Research has found that organisations and teams deemed to be positive attract better quality recruits and retain talent more, achieve greater productivity and performance, and are rated more highly by clients and customers. When done right, there really is no downside to (appropriate) happiness at work.
Or is there?
Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? Is there such a thing as being too positive, or being too happy?
Well, yes and no!
Let me reiterate that when done “right”, there really are only benefits and upside. At the same time, however, and like pretty much anything, there are “wrong” ways to implement “happiness at work”.
Years ago, I remember reading about a retail chain that mandated all staff must smile at all times when serving customers. I also remember cringing slightly as I read this and thought about the misuse of what can (and often is) such a powerful and “good” approach.
What do you think happened when this mandate was implemented?
You can probably imagine the backlash, from staff and customers. Why would there be a backlash? Because it was so blatantly disingenuous, lacking in authenticity, what could quite simply be called “fake”. None of which is good and all of which can actually lead to the exact opposite of what’s intended.
I can imagine that the intention wasn’t all bad, but the execution was pretty poor.
And this is just one example of where things can go wrong, which is when the positivity or happiness is not genuine, or when the expectations around it and its application are somehow unrealistic (e.g. being happy ALL the time).