Culture of Joy (Part 1)

The secret to Resilience

When you talk about resilience, what comes to mind is discipline, strength & toughness, etc. Not joy! Joy has to do with a state in which everything is great and peaceful, where one can simply rest and be, without any worry.

Joy in an individual’s life and in organizations, is the secret ingredient that increases resilience.

Most people who leave their work do it for the following reasons:

1. Not a great boss

2. Burn Out

3. Toxicity & politics

Does any of these three points give you a feeling of joy? It actually feels like something dark heavy and dull.

Finding its origin in the French joie, based on Latin Gaudium, from Gaudere which is a verb — rejoice. Basically means to produce a feeling of happiness and great pleasure. It is the feeling that a year old baby feels when her mother comes close and touches her with affection. It is the feeling in the heart of a grand father when his son finally returns from a war. It is the feeling in the heart of a mother when she sees her baby take the first steps. It is also the feeling you get when you are engaged in your garrage, fixing your car or cooking a special dessert in your kitchen.

Joy is something that needs to be cultivated. In this short article, I present to you a sociocognitive perspective of cultivating joy to enhance resilience in your personal life and organization. I will walk you through two important theories — COR & BNB (part 2). I will also highlight how the culture of joy in organizations impact the behavior of groups, and thereby the outcomes in the organization (part 2).

Before that, let me define what I mean by the culture of joy. According to Hartmann et.al., 2020, Culture of Joy is the manifestation of the positive collective emotions. It is the key driver for resilience. Joy contributes positively toward one’s social and cognitive mechanism to combat volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity at work and in the world in general. When you are surrounded by people who have immense joy and when you are joyful yourself, you internally sense that you can weather any storm.

So, the next time you go to work, ignite some joy by highfiving your buddy, sharing a joke or a happy highlight with others. Or, just smiling.