Happy Hour is 9 to 5
Read Happy Hour is 9 to 5 Online
Authors: Alexander Kjerulf
Happy Hour is 9 to 5
How to Love your Job, Love your Life, and Kick Butt at Work
Alexander Kjerulf
© Alexander Kjerulf & Pine Tribe 2013
Illustrations: Palle Scmidt
Cover design: Klahr | Graphic Design
Editors: Julia Hilliard and Kalimaya Krabbe
1. edition 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9912609-0-4
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Table of Contents
Praise for Happy Hour is 9 to 5
2. What Makes Us Happy at Work?
3. Looking for Happiness in all the Wrong Places
4. Warning: May Cause Severe Unhappiness
6. Why Happiness at Work Matters
7. Happiness is Good for Business
8. Who is Responsible for Happiness at Work?
9. How to Make Yourself Happy at Work
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Alexander Kjerulf
Happy Hour is 9 to 5
How to Love your Job, Love your Life and Kick Butt at Work
Pine Tribe
Praise for Happy Hour is 9 to 5
“This book will be at my desk, completely highlighted, so I can remember to create the happy workplace we all need.”
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Phil Gerbyshak, author of Make it Great
“Only you are responsible for your happiness, so it’s up to you to read Alexander Kjerulf’s “Happy Hour is 9 to 5” and find out what steps you can take to make yourself, your colleagues, and your staff happier at work. The book’s knowledge, tips, and real-life case studies will equip and inspire you to change your working life for the better.”
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Angela Beesley, co-founder of Wikia
“This book is an excellent addition to a management library. The concepts and suggestions are persuasive and logical, and should be taken to heart by anyone looking to make their workplace a better place to work.”
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Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran, Impromptu Librarian
“By far one of the most refreshing books on work culture that I’ve ever seen.”
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Sheldon Cooke, customer service professional, California
“I did not feel like putting it down and wanted to read it one shot.”
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Nirmala Palaniappan, Knowledge Management Consultant, India
To my mother Alexandra
with my love.
Acknowledgements
During the writing of this book, I was very grateful for:
My wonderful wife Patricia, for making me happy every single day!
My playmates in Copenhagen and all over the world for their enthusiasm, support and generosity: Arlette Bentzen, Steve Shapiro, Traci Fenton, Roosevelt Finlayson, Rowan Manahan, Thomas Mygdal, Carsten Ohm, Will McInnes, Tom Nixon, Max St. John, Kareem Mayan, Bernie deKoven, Mike Wagner, and more people than I can mention here. I am proud and happy to belong to a global tribe of such cool, committed individuals.
My ex-colleagues at Enterprise Systems, for their commitment to creating a great company together, their willingness to explore new paths to do so and the enthusiasm that came out of it. Oh, and the foosball games of course.
This book was written entirely in various cafés in Copenhagen, especially Laundromat Café, and Bodega. Thanks for the caffeine and the Wi-Fi :o)
And finally, the readers of my blog. Without you guys, this book probably wouldn’t exist, and it certainly wouldn’t be half as good. Your generosity, feedback, ideas and stories are a never-ending source of energy and inspiration. Thank you!
Foreword
By Lars Kolind
When I first saw Alexander’s title on his business card—Chief Happiness Officer—I must confess I didn’t take it seriously. Whatever next?!
But later I realised that Alexander has a point: happy employees, managers, customers and suppliers make the best team. They get more work done, they come up with more new ideas, and they create more value.
Happiness can be part of a company’s competitive edge. It shapes corporate culture, helps attract the most talented people, and it makes them stay longer.
I have spent quite a few years researching and experimenting in order to find a new formula for running a business in the 21st century. My goal is to find a substitute for yesterday’s rigid, hierarchical, financially-driven business and organisational models. I arrived at four key elements:
- A meaning that comes before profit.
- A partnership between the company and its employees.
- A collaborative organisation.
- Value-based leadership.
Reading this book, it struck me that happiness across the board promotes all four of these elements. Companies are seldom happy if they are only about money. It is much more fun to work for a worthy cause.
If companies and employees are opposites or enemies instead of partners, nobody will be happy. If there are barriers between employees that prevent collaboration, energy will be wasted on internal friction rather than spent on customer satisfaction. An open and collaborative organisation has fun.
It is that simple.
Therefore I dare say that happiness is not a joke in management. It is damn serious: happy companies will win. Happy companies will grow and happy companies will innovate.
The company of the future is — happy.
Lars Kolind
Lars Kolind is the internationally renowned CEO responsible for the dramatic turnaround of troubled hearing aid manufacturer Oticon. Lars led Oticon from near collapse to world leadership during his ten years as CEO from 1988 to 1998. The story of his turnaround — which included introducing the spaghetti organisation, mobile workplaces and the paperless office — is required reading at most business schools.
Lars is the author of The Second Cycle — Winning the War Against Bureaucracy.
Just Imagine...
Happy at work.
Happy? At work?
Happy… at work?
I want you to imagine waking up early on a Monday morning.Picture yourself as you turn off the alarm clock, and lie in bed for a moment before getting up. Your bed is comfortable and warm and you really want to enjoy that feeling just a little bit longer, but just thinking about the working week ahead of you is making you smile and get ready to jump out of bed.
You just know it’s going to be a wonderful week. You will get to do great work you can be proud of. You will get to make a difference, as you did last week and every week before that.
You look forward to having fun with your co-workers. You will help them whenever you can, and they will help you whenever you need it. You know you will be spending the day with people you like and can talk to. People who appreciate you for who you are and what you do.
You look forward to working with your boss, a person you truly admire for her skills, her amiability, and the way she brings out the best in others.
You can’t wait to interact with your customers and clients. You’ve been told so many times now that your competence and your attitude of fun are an inspiration to them — many of them continue to return because of you.
And more than anything else, you look forward to making a positive difference. You know that being the person you are and with the skills that you have, you will do work that you can be proud of.