Kathryn Britton

Visiting an 87-year-old friend in a supported living facility, I have been wondering what gives meaning to life when someone is no longer able to serve others or contribute to lifetime passions or pursue a larger purpose.

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…

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.

What would you think if your top character strength were Humility and Modesty? A friend found it rather deflating. However, we found that she had a great knack for taking herself out of the middle of the picture and focusing on the needs of others. Suddenly humility snapped into place as a valuable quality that fit. That made me curious. What is humility? Where does it come from? Who has it? When and why is it valuable? How can we build it in ourselves?

On April 16, my dear friend, Linda Frank, died in a traffic accident. I’ve gone through a wide range of emotions over the last month — numbness, sadness, humor, confusion, emptiness, … But beyond my own grief, I’ve worried about her family. What do they need? How can I best be there for them? I’ve also looked around and seen many people who want to do something.

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.

Imagine you are in the hospital following surgery. You have 70 staples holding things together, and they hurt. Your nurse sees that you are in pain and offers to take…

Let’s assume you were just promoted into a management job. You know that you got the promotion because you were an excellent performer on your previous assignment, but it used your technical skills. You are worried that you do not have all the skills you need to be an excellent manager. How do you go about learning them? Where’s the best place to start?

How would you react if an unexpected traumatic event happened at your company, university, religious group, or other organization? How would everyone around you react? How strong is the organizational…

“Can you imagine … looking forward to work every day? … Knowing that you make a difference and feeling good about the work you do?” So starts this book by…

We tend to typecast people: Some are creative, some are not. Taking a closer look, there are different kinds of creativity. Some are unusual, some are all around us. We…

Recently, I edited some work for a colleague, embellishing her document with comments and marked up changes. In response, she said that getting feedback from me was like going to…

Labor Day is a holiday in the United States to honor the contributions of working people. So let me celebrate it today with reflections about the relationship between worker and…

When I think of savoring, the first thing that comes to mind is playing close attention. Savoring a glass of fine wine means taking time to look at the color…

The strength of Endurance belongs with the virtue Courage. With Endurance, people respond patiently and with acceptance to things they cannot change.

If I wanted one indicator of the health of a workplace, it would be how much people laugh. In addition to smoke detectors, we need to invent laugh-o-meters so we can celebrate laughter and realize when we are starting to take ourselves too seriously. …

I was at Weaver Street Market, waiting for a friend who was a little bit late for lunch, and caught sight of an older gentleman sitting at an outdoor table with his white-tipped cane under his seat. Around his neck, he wore a sign that said, “I like company. How about a 5-minute conversation?”

Are there different kinds of curiosity? Todd: We asked over 500 people what are the things that make them most curious. The two most frequent categories were being curious about other people’s lives and trying to figure themselves out – introspection. We don’t talk enough about the value of introspection, being curious about the self.