Chief Joy Officer summary

What color hat do you wear? The psychologist and philosopher Edward de Bono wrote a book, first published in 1985, called Six Thinking Hats, in which he set out six different approaches to thinking through any situation. The white hat-wearing thinker, for example, sees any situation solely through a prism of cold hard facts. Someone wearing a red hat, by contrast, would consider only the emotion of the moment.

The black hat is often regarded as the engineering mindset, considering all that could go wrong, how and why. We need this kind of thinking. Without it, buildings in earthquake zones would topple. But leaders can’t afford to get bogged down with this thinking alone. They need to put their yellow hats on, too. The yellow hat is an optimistic outlook that is oriented toward success, considering from the start that success is a strong possibility. When an organization has plenty of people looking at things from the perspective of a white, red or black hat, sometimes it needs its leader to be wearing a yellow hat, so that they can provide optimism and engagement.

In 1968, the author’s mom ordered a new bookshelf. At that time, getting new furniture was a big deal, and his mom was excited. The author decided he would surprise his parents while they were out. So, at just ten years old, he carefully assembled the bookcase himself, arranged some books, hooked up their stereo and had his mom’s favorite record playing when they walked in. His dad looked on, speechless, and his mom actually cried. It was a joyful moment to see their reactions. This moment taught him a lesson that has influenced his business career – that true joy comes not from creating things for ourselves, but from serving others.

So, try to build a culture focused on serving people. There’s an old story about three bricklayers, which shows how this instills joy. A passerby asked the three men what they were doing. The first replied that he was laying bricks. The second one said that he was building a wall. The third? With a wide, proud smile, he said that he was creating a cathedral. The third man was joyful because he felt that his work was serving others. This goes to show it’s possible to focus on serving others, whatever your business or your role.

What’s the difference between a leader and a boss? Well, a boss tells you what to do using the authority of their position. A leader influences and motivates. A boss demands adherence, whereas a leader cultivates thinking, teamwork and a lets-get-things-done-together attitude. While a boss tends to be at the top of a hierarchy, leaders can be found at every level.

There are plenty of reasons why an organization that cultivates leaders, rather than bosses, will be more effective. One is that an organization with a leadership culture will be more likely to experiment.

When you think about what brings you joy, systems probably don’t immediately spring to mind. If you want to make your organization joyful, though, focusing on systems is actually a great step to take.

Unfortunately, systems are often overlooked when businesses are faced with challenges like a failed sales pitch or a harsh customer complaint. These are often put down to chance or lack of work ethic. A good leader, however, will consider that it might be the result of a flawed system.

Do the people in your organization truly care about one another? If not, have you considered how much more joyful your workplace would be if they did? To build an ethos of caring for one another, consider the systems you have in place relating to your people. Recruitment would be a great place to start.

Potential recruits at Menlo are given a clear message about the company's ethos from the beginning. In their first interview, candidates work in pairs to complete a joint task. They’re also given clear instructions – they might be competing, but they must help one another in order to get a second interview. If one partner is struggling, the other should help them out. If one seems nervous, the second should try to put them at ease.

Your business may be under threat, and you don’t even know it. Borders Books was founded in 1971. Hugely successful, in its last year of operation it employed almost 20,000 people. Amazon was only founded in 1994, but by 2011 it had put Borders out of business.

Borders had 17 years to learn how to survive in a new, internet-dominated world. But it couldn’t. If there’s one lesson to learn from this, it’s that leaders need to be active, continual learners. As Peter Senge, a systems scientist at MIT, says, the only long-term source of competitive advantage is a business’ ability to learn more quickly than its competition.