Did you know the Danish language has a specific word for “happiness at work?” The word is “arbejdsglaede.” Don’t ask me to pronounce it.
Thanks to Alexander Kjerulf, a Dane who is also known as the Chief Happiness Officer, I now know of this wonderful yet difficult to pronounce word. And thanks to Alex’s book, entitled Happy Hour is 9 to 5: Learn How to Love Your Job, Create a Great Business and Kick Butt at Work, I’ve learned even more about happiness at work.
Alex’s writing has a fun, conversational style, just like you would expect from the Chief Happiness Officer. Don’t mistake this for fluff, however. He covers a lot interesting material in a thoughtful, smart way. I especially liked the research he presented on the effect of starting meetings out on a positive note, his thoughts on the cult of overwork, how to tell a bad boss to improve and his frank advice in a section entitled “should I stay or should I go?” There is a very good chapter about what managers can do to help make people happy at work. This is a pragmatic book filled with ideas and suggestions.
You can purchase Alex’s book, purchase and download it in a pdf format, or read it for free. All three options are available at his Chief Happiness Officer blog (www.positivesharing.com). In addition to Alex’s book, his blog has a lot of interesting material too. Be sure to check it out. You’ll be happy you did.
