Katarzyna Bialasiewicz: 123rf.com
Happiness matters to both people and companies. Happy people are more likely to be optimistic, productive, and creative. So are companies.
Research reported by Walter Frick in a Harvard Business Review article “Companies in Happy Cities Invest More for the Long Term” has uncovered a clear link between a company’s performance and where it is headquartered. “Companies located in places with happier people invest more … In particular, firms in happy places spend more on R&D.” The researchers believe that happiness supports “the kind of longer term thinking necessary for making investments in the future.”
To get to this conclusion, researchers Tuugi Chuluun and Carol Graham looked at a geographical area’s overall happiness score and firms’ degree of investment, R&D activity, and success. They found an especially strong correlation in younger firms with younger, less experienced managers and a less formalized decision-making process. The correlation was also stronger where happiness was more evenly distributed across an area’s population.
And here’s another tidbit. If happiness drives the optimism and future orientation required for investment, then future orientation drives the ability to defer instant gratification, compete more vigorously, and perform better.
Interesting, eh? Looking at Silicon Valley’s current booming success (or perceived success), it’s probably tempting to describe this area as happy. What do you think?
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