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Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

sloanreview.mit.edu

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Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#451

Post by quantified »

If this finds widespread adoption in organizations, an entirely new set of minefields open up. The highly bullied children and the children of toxic parents will be somewhat more marginalized as they become comparatively less-happy adults and are kept from better opportunities. Pressure to appear happy will only be greater. You thought everyone on Facebook was happier than you?

I’d really like to see a bit more digging in there as to whether removing the happiness-sappers was more or less effective than supporting the happiness-supporters.

At the end of the day, “you’re just not happy enough” could become a valid rephrasing of “you’re just not a cultural fit”.

These are glass-half-empty perspectives, but there’s no principle that can be applied that can’t be misapplied.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#452

Post by hackerfromthefu »

xwdv wrote: post #349
czbond wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a lot of experience pushing forward stuff with wife / kids. One must learn to delegate. Yes you can do "programming whatever", but you don't have the time. If you believe in the project, allocate.... $100,$500,$1k a month for a few months (whatever is your threshold) and outsource! It doesn't need to be in "expensive React with microservices".... you can do v1 in Laravel and a purchased template. (as example).…

This advice used to work years ago but user expectations have risen massively and you can no longer get away with a shitty cookie cutter MVP. You must do the big work upfront and come out very polished out of the gate, or else users will sense you don’t really have much skin in the game and not bother investing time in your niche project. This often means you must leverage the latest and greatest tech to get an edge,…

Almost swallowed my cuppa when you called React the latest and greatest

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#453

Post by hackerfromthefu »

xwdv wrote: post #414
datavirtue wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, users care about React. [Eye roll]

They don’t care about React they care about having next generation web applications with complex state, not some garbage where you click a button and refresh a page everytime to re-render the screen.

No way - users care about speed a lot but usually could care less about a page refresh. That's why React apps are getting a bad rap with users as they are often slow due to poor engineering. If the app is fast and looks good, users like it.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#454

Post by jd115 »

rjh29 wrote: post #195
jd115 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There can be no such thing as toxic positivity. Your doubts are toxic, yes. But positivity can never be toxic. Life IS utterly binary and clear-cut in this respect, there are no grey areas, no nuances. There is an absolute good and it is joy. And it is 100% a personal choice, regardless of circumstances. Once again - it is the only ONE thing over which you have any control, at all times, no exceptions. You can always…

Incredibly insulting to people with depression.

Which is why they are depressed. They choose (over and over and over again, many times in each hour they make this CONSCIOUS CHOICE) to find this insulting, instead of empowering.

I am leaving out no-one. Joy is absolutely accessible to every living being, at all times, under all conditions.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#455

Post by suction »

nicbou wrote: post #202
suction wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, having already made enough money to always be able to just say "you know what, I'm out" whenever you feel like it is necessary to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. Anyone who's not "secure for life" and has to keep the salaries coming in will have to deal with bad people, bad decisions, bad culture, etc. and become unhappy. I've sort of dabbled in that situation: I made and lost a fortune…

I can confirm. Stepping off the treadmill - or just slowing it down - gives you so much more space to be curious. It's not just a matter of precariousness. You just have a lot more time and energy for these things. You can always sleep a bit longer, or delay work to follow an impulse with your full energy. There's always time for projects, even if they're not part of some hustle. It's an incredible privilege. Forget…

Ironically, the rise of the US as an economic power probably was what ended the Victorian dream of noble men doing nothing but looking for ever more refined expressions of art and culture. Huysmans wrote about it in his still very relevant novel "À rebours".

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#456

Post by suction »

goatsi wrote: post #382
wppick wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about the Victorian period made this possible? Seems strange that we have so much more wealth and efficiencies now (even just refrigeration/freezers as one example) yet seem to have gone backwards in this regard. What could be the underlying cause of this?

It was only possible in the Victorian period for the wealthy elite. If you were born into a family that owned vast swaths of land or used to run slave plantations in the Caribbean you were set for life and could devote your life to less crude pursuits than the gain of capital. You would also have a ready built network of others with similar wealth and social expectations.

And not only in England - all of Europe's elite, in France, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Russia, spend their days sponsoring art and partying, basically. They were the ones paying all the famous composers, painters, etc. whose work we still marvel at today. The rise of the United States and its capitalist system brought an end to that. The businessman rose over the noble man, both in wealth as well as image.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#457

Post by suction »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #307
suction wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, having already made enough money to always be able to just say "you know what, I'm out" whenever you feel like it is necessary to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. Anyone who's not "secure for life" and has to keep the salaries coming in will have to deal with bad people, bad decisions, bad culture, etc. and become unhappy. I've sort of dabbled in that situation: I made and lost a fortune…

> Anyone who's not "secure for life" and has to keep the salaries coming in will have to deal with bad people, bad decisions, bad culture, etc. and become unhappy. This is the myth that keeps people trapped in bad jobs, but it’s not true. Yes, most of us have to continue working. But no, that doesn’t mean your job must be miserable and you must be surrounded by miserable people. Look around. Try something different.…

Too simplistic. Some people are trapped - the availability of even just one alternative job with chance of improvement is not a given. It's question of age(ism), ableness to move to another city / country, and luck.

Or put differently, we're not all around 30 anymore, live in the bay area, and might have family matters, e.hg. a wife that doesn't want to quit a job she loves so you can maybe improve your happiness by 10%.

Also, companies change over time. A great place can become hell with just one bad superior getting hired and poisoning everything.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#458

Post by suction »

nicoburns wrote: post #180
suction wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, having already made enough money to always be able to just say "you know what, I'm out" whenever you feel like it is necessary to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. Anyone who's not "secure for life" and has to keep the salaries coming in will have to deal with bad people, bad decisions, bad culture, etc. and become unhappy. I've sort of dabbled in that situation: I made and lost a fortune…

I know plenty of people who will say "you know what, I'm out" despite living paycheck to paycheck, or maybe having 1 or 2 months living expenses saved up. They're just open to the risk of going with the flow, and confident they'll find something to keep them going. They tend to be a lot happier than those I know who are focussed on money and career. This doesn't work if you're literally struggling to make ends meet t…

I reckon they're not 50 or older, though.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#459

Post by suction »

morokhovets wrote: post #295
suction wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, having already made enough money to always be able to just say "you know what, I'm out" whenever you feel like it is necessary to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. Anyone who's not "secure for life" and has to keep the salaries coming in will have to deal with bad people, bad decisions, bad culture, etc. and become unhappy. I've sort of dabbled in that situation: I made and lost a fortune…

> There's nothing else to it. Your response seems too generalized as if it relates to everyone. Let me disagree. I myself can be considered that kind of genius OP is talking about, at least in my earlier days. First 15 years of my career I've never had any (ANY) savings, and most of the time had some amount of debt. But I always felt simple enough to walk away from any situation I don't want to be in and was ready to…

Sorry but I don't think a real genius would call himself one.
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