James Lind on the importance of joy at work

In this weekly series of mentor minutes, I am sharing one insight from each of my mentors. Please note that I have learnt SO much more than one thing from each of them, but I wanted to share one important thing I learnt from each (for simplicity and to remain concise).

@James Lind is a behind the scenes hero who works in a clinical capacity as an emergency doctor and also as a consultant at the Healthcare Improvement Unit. It is likely that if you work in health, he has been instrumental in system improvement, redesign or assessment in your hospital, but he wouldn’t mention it. When we first met, he was working on patient flow issues in multiple hospital sites and with multiple governmental organisations and eating a cupcake. Other times we have run into each other I have seen him give a presentation which included bouncing a ball off a co-presenters head, asking interesting questions while helping prepare for a conference… and he is always wearing a smile.

The Importance of Joy in Work

James is a person who clearly loves his work. I can never recall him being in a bad mood, or too busy to see the humour in something. I recently said to him he reminds me of a quote I had read:

James is at the optimal state of being when it comes to work- as he is confident, competent and thoroughly enjoys the work he does. This is an aspirational goal for me (I love my job but have struggled to find the joy in some situations). Upon hearing this quote, he replied that with so much of our time spent at work it is very important not to be miserable.

How we are in the workplace is important for these reasons:

·        How we show up is a habit

·        Our presence affects others

·        How we show up impacts how we are seen and

·        Joy is a powerful motivator.

How we show up is a habit

Have you ever seen a colleague looking at the clock nearing 10am and slipping out of their seat to buy a chocolate bar? When that action does become a habit, it is a hard one to break and is damaging to their health. But do we ever stop to think about how our mindset and mood affect ourselves? James has a habit of turning up and making any meeting or workshop feel hopeful.

A long time ago there was a period of time in my career where I felt uninspired, overlooked and as though I was not making a difference. At that time, I found it hard to drag myself out of bed and put on my uniform. My absence was probably higher than average and I interpreted many things the worst way (as acts of deliberate malice rather than accidental oversights). This did become a habit. I changed workplaces to try something new and everything changed.

Research shows that by taking actions which align with how we want to be, we are more likely to become that way in reality, for example with smiling. If we regularly smile even when we do not feel happy, our bodies trick our minds into believing we are. There are many ways we can apply this technique, but the one I find most effective is to set the day up for success by visualising how well everything could go. This helps us to get in a positive mindset before we try anything. In the relationship based business post, we talked about how people want to work with those whom they like. Showing up in a positive frame is a positive step towards being a person who works well with others.

Our presence affects others

Have you ever had a bad day, and then ran into an old friend with regaled you with a crazy story? When people see James, he improves their day. How we affect others and our environment are closely related. In my mind an environment is a space created by the people in it, so I see people as a part of the environment.

In his roles, James is often presenting helpful information in new ways, or helping facilitate solutions to complex problems. He has a striking ability to get on with every person he meets. Within minutes of meeting someone, they will be sharing a laugh or finding some common ground. The atmosphere becomes playful and possibilities open up unexpectedly.  James is the type of person that improves the environment by being in it.

I have emulated this in my interactions with others. In team meetings I have something positive to say, or at least something positive to find if the situation is not a good one (while not shying away from important issues). In leadership positions we need to be aware of how we are impacting those around us. In joyful times it is easy to be happy, but at crunch time leaders need to navigate a way through the difficulty and support the team. The worst thing a team can see is a leader who has given up, as despair is contagious.

In an excellent ted talk (The happy secret to better work), Shaun Achor shares a story about changing his sisters mindset of one from despair to one of hilarious potential. I highly recommend this talk (it is one we have shown at our leadership days) as it brings a playful approach to how we communicate with others for the best impacts possible.

One other excellent resource which we have used to try to ensure our workplace is a happy one, is by striving to use strategies suggested by Ingrid Fetel Lee in her ted talk (Where joy hides and how to find it). Taking even small actions to improve our work environments may have big impacts on the team. 

Example: In a previous workplace, I went to our team and asked them what in the environment would make them happier. A staff member said disco lights in the tea room. The very next day, we did put disco lights in the tea room (to show we were listening). This was not widely popular with the team, but did make people laugh when they entered the room. Instead, we printed out beautiful colour pictures of disco lights and put them on the cupboards. These were well received and stayed up for 2 years afterwards (a record for posters in our workplace). Even little things can make a difference.

How we show up impacts how we are seen

Have you seen a person turn up to work who clearly shouldn’t be there? They might be sick or they may have external stressors preventing them from doing their work. Imagine you are the manager and this is your first meeting with this person. What would your first impression be? 

Research shows that within five seconds people classify others into ‘trusted’ and ‘not trusted’ (Andrew O’Keefe in ‘Hardwired Humans’). While this single snapshot of this person may not be indicative of their usual manner, if this is all the information you have at the time it can be hard to see past that first encounter. In some of these posts I have mentioned consistency is an underrated super power, and this is the perfect example of why. It is worth thinking twice about showing up when we cannot be our best. If when we are present, we are aligned with our purpose and passion, our consistency helps others to know who we are. Emma Versluis has written more on showing up here.

And the same is true for us. Malcolm Gladwell (in his latest book ‘Talking to Strangers’) has identified some of the wild misconceptions we can have about others based solely on our limited experiences and beliefs about how others should act, and the disastrous consequences of that. 

Example: When I started at my most recent job, one the very first day a person did not show up to work and was uncontactable. Keeping in mind the ‘snapshot in time’ consideration, I asked other staff how they felt about this staff member- did this happen often? Unanimously, the feedback received from others was that this is one our best nurses and that this was very out of character for this person. When the nurse arrived for the next shift, we sat down to talk about it and they were mortified. It was an honest mistake. I reassured them that others had spoken very highly of them and I knew this was not indicative of who they were. They have gone on to be promoted, are one of our most engaged leaders and I am so grateful not to have overlooked an incredible person for an error in first impressions.

Joy is a powerful motivator

People are drawn to working with James because he is fun. People choose to do things that make them happy. Harvard Business Review discuss the three components of joy (in this article): harmony, impact and acknowledgement. These key ingredients cost little, but are high value. Taking steps in our teams to ensure people work well together, they understand the greater meaning of their job and ensuring they feel appreciated are critical to ensuring people enjoy their work.

Bonus- Joy Multiplier!

If you can think of a way to bring joy to your team, try to deliver it as a surprise. When unexpected positive things happen, research shows this multiples our experience of joy. Unexpected rewards trigger our novelty bias and increase our emotional response to the event. To maximise joy in your workplace, use the element of surprise to your advantage!

When we have fun doing something, we look forward to going back. This is how I dream that all of our teams will feel when they are on their journeys to work- inspired and knowing that what they do matters. Putting fun into the workplace is something we need to add to our agendas. Knowing how much time we spend at work, I hope there is a James in all of your workspaces!

Have you had a James in your workplace? What did they do that made it better?  Can you think of one thing that would bring joy to others in your workplace? And how to deliver it as a surprise? I am interested to hear about how joy abounds in your workplace- let me know in the comments what you experience has been.