Managing for Happiness

© 2015 José Ignacio de Juan http://joseignaciodejuan.com

Contrary to what I believed as a little girl, being the boss almost never involves marching around, waving your arms, and chanting, “I am the boss! I am the boss!”

Tina Fey,American comedian(1970–)

When an organization's culture is bad, don't just blame the managers. Happiness in an organization is everyone's responsibility. Better management means engaging people, improving the whole system, and increasing value for clients. For most people, however, these principles are not enough. They need concrete practices or, in other words, regular exercises.

Management is too important to leave to the managers. I have come to this conclusion after 20 years of being a manager, writing two management books, giving 80 management courses in 30 countries, and speaking at almost 100 conferences worldwide, some of them about management. I've noticed that most leaders don't know how to solve their management problems and most knowledge workers, such as engineers, teachers, consultants, and designers, don't realize that they are also (to some extent) responsible for management stuff. I firmly believe that, like keeping the noise down, the files organized, the meeting room tidy, and the customers happy, management is everyone's ...