Page 5 - i-Enjoy

FACTS & FIGURES
i-ENJOY.
Being happy is a fundamental human need, especially at work where technology empowers us to achieve more than mere job satisfaction.
Everybody is still pretty happy these days1, despite the relentless frenzy of modern life, a world in which the private and the professional are intertwined, and we are in constant contact with other people. Or maybe we are happy because of them.
According to Erich Fromm2 work transformed what it meant to be human. History begins at the precise point people started to work, severing their formerly unbreakable bond with nature, assuming the role of creators and becoming “individuals”.
The evolution of humans has been defined by the emancipating forces of work and its propensity to drive change and development. The meaning of work has evolved too, away from its original role of ensuring our survival, often linked to slavery in the distant past, to become something that gives meaning to our very existence, developing our creativity and social standing, keeping us away from despair and self-destructive forms of thought.
In other words, work has become a yardstick for our personal dignity, helping us to become better people, and encouraging us to demand things from our working lives that would never have occurred to us before. These include the need to feel happy about what we do.
“IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE GOOD LIFE PEOPLE MUST WORK IN GOOD ORGANISATIONS”
GAVIN & MASON, 2004
Happiness is at the heart of many popular and public discourses. Both the French constitution and the American Declaration of Independence mention happiness. More recently the United Nations General Assembly invited all countries to describe additional measures to “better capture the importance
ENVIRONMENT
FACTS AND FIGURES | 5
Happiness is defined by daily life circumstances
50%
10%
40%
GENES
EXERCISE
Happiness is influenced by thoughts, behaviours and actions
Happiness is genetically determinated
Main factors that influence happiness in people's life.
Source: Lyubomirsky, 2008.