Well-Being Is Related to Having Less Small Talk and More Substantive Conversations

A recent research was looking to find answers to the question whether ‘happy life characterized by shallow, happy-go-lucky moments and trivial small talk, or by reflection and profound social encounters’?
79 people were recruited for the purposes of the research over a 4 day period. (More on the mechanics here.)

The results were amazing. Just to mention a few:
- higher well-being was associated with spending less time alone, and more time talking to others
- further, higher well-being was associated with having less small talk, and having more substantive conversations
- for example, compared with the unhappiest participants, the happiest participants spent about 25% less time alone and about 70% more time talking
- they also had roughly one third as much small talk and twice as many substantive conversations

The research group also wanted to test whether personality differences accounted for these effects and found the following:
participants who were happier than one would have predicted on the basis of their personality, had more―and more substantive―conversations than their less happy counterparts with similar personalities.

Together, the present findings demonstrate that the happy life is social rather than solitary, and conversationally deep rather than superficial.

The results raise the interesting possibility that happiness can be increased by facilitating substantive conversations.

Author credits:
Matthias R. Mehl, University of Arizona
Simine Vazire2, Washington University in St. Louis
Shannon E. Holleran, University of Arizona
C. Shelby Clark University of Arizona

Sunday late afternoon swim at Bronte Beach, Sydney

Stuff I just read…

Productivity tips from Nicholas Bate, and this is only Part I. Keep them coming!

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Some good news for the UK’s economy – but only beyond the current financial year. According to Martin Wolf the economy ‘is now forecast to shrink by 3.75 per cent in 2009-10, slightly worse than the 3.5 per cent decline forecast in the December 2009 pre-Budget report. Next year, the economy is forecast to expand by 2 per cent, followed by 3 per cent in 2011-12 and 3.25 per cent thereafter.’
Plus check out these charts.

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A good few great new ideas on strategic decision making by McKinsey Quarterly featuring:
- WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell: spells out the good old wisdom and takes it a step further. He suggests to ‘learn from mistakes and listen to feedback […] but don’t ask hundreds of people. Carefully sound out the relevant constituencies—clients, suppliers, competitors—and try to find someone you trust who has no agenda about the issue at hand.’

- Kleiner Perkins’ Randy Komisar": suggests to ‘balance out biases’ similarly ‘how President Kennedy ran his cabinet: he used to assemble the smartest people he could, throw a difficult issue on the table, and watch them debate it. Then at some point he would end the debate, make a decision, and move on.
Make a balance sheet by assembling everyone’s insights rather than their conclusions. [this is brilliant by the way]

- Xerox’s Anne Mulcahy: says ‘the decisions that come out of allowing people to have different views—and treasuring the diversity of those views—are often harder to implement than what comes out of consensus decision making, but they’re also better.’
When making people choices she suggests ‘to look for people who can strike the hard balance between courage and learning. Which she identifies as ‘the single most important leadership trait, outside of pure competence’.
And finally, she says that ‘decisiveness is about timeliness. And timeliness trumps perfection.’

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And finally, say no to TV with Seth Godin, and read Mr Bate’s blog on how to expand your Universe in all that time you’ll gain.
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Earth Hour

Let there be dark. EARTH HOUR. Today. Spread the word & for (at least) an hour - switch the power off!

Beside the much praised and needed green movement that this event stands for – just what an advertising success story Earth Hour is. Great concept, fabulous execution.
 
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In Sydney, Irish get to celebrate twice...

Once on the 17th, then on the Sunday following, when the parade is on...