Practice conscious happiness for better leadership

In the course of my career as an art and creative director and later as a product experience designer, I kept a secret for a long time: I am color-blind.

I can see colors. I just have trouble telling the difference between hues in the same tonal range. In other words, some shades of green and brown are indistinguishable to me. The same goes for blue and purple.

Ever since I publicly admitted this a few years ago, a lot of people have been wondering how I could be successful in an area that relies so heavily on the use of color. To be honest, I wondered about it myself for a long time. Recently, with the help of positive psychologist Robert Mack, I learned that the key to my success has always been practicing conscious happiness.

Just like someone can have a yoga or meditation practice, one sets an intention and does so with a certain frequency. Even those at Masters level need to work to maintain their skills. I have not mastered happiness, but I purposely work to cultivate it. To put it in Mack’s words, I continuously train my emotional guidance system to focus on the positive.

There are scientifically based Things you can do to be happieras documented by author Eric Barker. And the pursuit of happiness has become a business of its own. There is no shortage of Studies At happiness, global rankings for the happiest country, even lists of companies that do the happiest employees.

Businesses are starting to value it as many organizations devote resources to wellbeing. (The terms “happiness” and “subjective well-being” are often used synonymously). Executives want happy people on their teams because research indicates that happy people are more productive and more satisfied with their jobs.

None of this suggests that we should try to be happy all the time. It is unrealistic to think that we should all be walking around blissfully all the time. Managers shouldn’t expect that from their teams either.

Rather, it helps to remember what Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh said: “There is no way to happiness – happiness is the way.” Decades of scientific studies prove this and show that Happiness precedes success. My professional history reflects these insights as I overcame an obstacle that could have ended my career but instead served to build my resilience and make me a better leader. For me, practicing conscious happiness is liberating as I can be aware – but less concerned – of what might be holding me back. And instead I can concentrate on what strengthens me and gives me joy.

You don’t have to be color blind to see these lessons apply to any situation now.

Optimize resilience

For many years I was driven by what I learned to identify myself Fraud Syndrome. It started when I was driving through the trees with my father as a boy and couldn’t tell the red and orange ribbons in the trees. I continued through art school where I used the labels on the tubes to choose colors, and then, when I worked with clients for work, I used sample books and computer software to match colors.

In doing so, I accepted the idea that something would not succeed or even fail. But not in a hopeless, unfortunate way. Over the years a thousand small defeats or near-losses have helped me realize this and see that I would survive. That I would be able to create, compete and keep trying. That I would learn and hopefully get better as I walk.

This exercise in resilience — a Key component of happiness—enabled me to feel less pressure to perform and perhaps less the need to compare myself with others. Imposter syndrome, fear of failure and social and economic pressure to perform are part of human nature. But optimizing for the wellbeing and satisfaction of each individual on your team will allow them to find their way around.

For example, in a culture of successive meetings, the importance of Replacement breaks cannot be overstated. Even with high productivity requirements, good managers know make space that your team retires / switches off if necessary.

Optimize for the strength of others

Color is rarely listed as a top design principle. There are other more pressing issues like hierarchy, scaling, balance and framing. Fortunately, I’ve always had a knack for these things.

But as a color-blind artist, I learned early on to trust people. Trust your talent, skills and perspective. The designers I hired and worked with were another key factor in my success. Although I’ve never hired a designer only for their ability to see and specify colors, I looked for strengths that supported where I or others had weaknesses. I am happy to admit that nothing I have achieved was achieved alone. It’s always in collaboration with others.

The science of wellbeing tells us that happier people are more likely to cooperate with others and play well. And it also works the other way around –Teamwork and collaboration can lead to greater happiness.

It is entirely possible to develop your own ideas. But the speed with which ideas are generated and the synapse fire multiplies when even a few people work together. The common success also increases morale. And when we fail, we can lean on each other. Or in my case, if my ability to see colors fails, someone else can pick up that ball and run with it.

One of the most valuable skills leaders can have is the confidence to recognize their weaknesses. Taking into account strengths and weaknesses in the entire team and in the organization can give everyone the opportunity to do their best.

There are some tools like Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Finder to find out. But it’s also perfectly fine to just start a conversation to find out where one person’s strengths might complement the weaknesses of others, but also to give each party ownership – or decision-making – over that strength.

Optimize for fun

One of my favorite art teachers occasionally ripped or cut out a piece of your work and pasted it elsewhere. It was a destructive form of criticism (admittedly aggressive and off-putting to some of the other students) that quickly helped me realize that there is more than one way to look at a piece of work. It encouraged me to experiment more. Playing with the work itself – taking things apart and then putting them back together in different configurations.

This kind of experimentation can often lead to innovation. Brendan Boyle, founder of IDEO’s Play Lab, is known for his philosophy from “Flirt with the Ridiculous”. Sometimes it can be incredibly fulfilling and happy to just throw a bit of game-doh on a table and encourage the team to do whatever comes to mind while you make small talk.

In my practice as a manager, it has always been important to me to get the team off the desk. We took maker courses, for example in an artist’s studio, to make collages together.

In the age of zoom calls and hybrid work, it’s still just as important – and entirely possible – to create leeway.

It takes some planning and structure. You can’t just have a video call for 30 minutes and just see what the result is. In my previous position at a large financial institution, I was part of a geographically dispersed team tasked with developing a vision for part of a new and improved customer experience. We quickly found a way to work on a video that was fair, inclusive, and had a fair amount of play.

• We took turns leading the meeting every day, which ended up being as playful and refreshing as it was democratic.
• We have booked a story for structuring (in this case a user starts with an obstacle to be overcome and ends with a goal achieved).
• Each participant had 15 minutes to sketch what happened between these bookends. With words, pictures, stick figures etc.
• We all worked in silence for a period of time, but with our cameras At so that we could ask questions and exchange inspirations in the further course.
• Each of us then took turns sharing our solution – it took each of us five minutes to walk the rest of the group through their story or scenario.
• This storytelling gave space for others to intervene, ask questions, and otherwise build on the story.
• Just as I learned from my art teacher years ago, we put together a complete story from all the inputs. More diverse in detail and more colorful than anything that each of us could have created on our own.

This type of purposeful play is not limited by the technical ability to see colors. Playing is exploring and discovering. It is the opportunity to experiment with different ways of working in such a way that there is room for failure. As Martin Jackr said: “Play is the increase of the possible.” It leads to a common vision. Something that all players can own.

I overcame color blindness by learning to experiment, be innovative and not be afraid of failure. These lessons have become central to the deliberate cultivation of happiness. This, in turn, helped me overcome a deficit like color blindness and the resulting impostor syndrome. I now use it to work in the service of leadership and collaboration. So do not wait to cultivate happiness in you. And encourage the same in your teammates. Your career, your colleagues, and the world will be better for it.

Klaus Heesch is Head of Optimism & Sustainable Growth, an Experience Design Leader, Speaker and Happiness Practitioner.