The 6th Biennial Meaning conference took place August 5-8 in Vancouver Canada. The theme was Creating a Psychologically Healthy Workplace, and sessions also touched on a deeper theme — the importance of meaning to the quality of our lives. Many of the sessions were recorded and recordings are available for purchase, if this brief summary makes you wish you had been there. My own presentation on articulating a shared and valued purpose at work is available in the collection.

Have you ever observed how people try to change their behavior and become increasingly frustrated while they keep on doing the same thing over and over. It’s no easy task to change an individual’s behavior. Prochaska and DiClemente prepare us for the story of change –that it can be a spiral and that there are specific processes that support an individual in moving through each stage.

The image of a powerful organizational leader conjures up an archetype of strength, knowledge, and wisdom. It makes us think of a leader who knows the right thing to do and does it. The rest …

Research and application often appear to live in separate worlds, but sometimes they come together in a way that shines light on both. What if a company could change direction radically by adopting …

It is time again for the biennial Meaning Conference, to be held in Vancouver BC on August 5-8. From from the announcement, “Work is more than a means of making a living or creating wealth. It can also be a higher calling that ennobles the soul, endows life with meaning, and enhances humanity. ” Read further to see who will be speaking, including two lectures open to the general public.

In Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, opens the door and lets anyone interested come in and learn about the secrets to his company’s success. This is not the first door he’s …

Have you, or has someone you know, been annoyed, hurt, or wronged by another person? Are you still holding onto that hurt? Are you hanging onto baggage, giving power to the past, being held back …

There has been a lot of press about health, fitness, and obesity lately. It seems like everywhere we turn, there are new stats telling us why we need to pay serious attention. As …

To further elaborate on why the riches are not equivalent to happiness, I adopt the approach used by Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, of looking at happiness as moment-to-moment experience instead of general well-being or flourishing. When we break down happiness into moment-to-moment experience, riches do not necessarily make people happier. Why not?

Today, work is highly interdependent. So what happens when something goes wrong? Where is the focus? Are people pointing fingers, or are they asking questions and figuring out what they can learn? Dr. Jody Gittell of Brandeis University argues that joint problem-solving (which can start with not derogating failures) is related to the extent of the high-quality communication at the company.