The ASQ Influential Voices blog asks whether process professionals are happy at work this week. It comes off the back of a new study published in Forbes revealing that software quality professionals are the happiest people at work.
I think they have a point. My opinion is that process professionals should be the happiest people in any workforce. The reason for this belief is simple – the progress principle.
The progress principle is a philosophy by Teresa Amabile, Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration and a Director of Research at Harvard Business School. She argues that the biggest single contributory factor for workplace happiness is making progress. If we are achieving results, no matter how small, it makes us happy at work.
As process improvement professionals, it’s our job to make progress every day. It’s our job to make those marginal gains that add up to great things for the organisations that employ us. According to Amabile that should make us pretty happy at work.
Does that apply to you? I’ve included a poll at the end of this post for you to give us your view. Before then though, check out this clip of Teresa talking to TED about the progress principle.
You can also join in the discussion on our LinkedIn poll - on a scale of 1-5 (5 being ecstatically happy and 1 being horribly miserable) how happy are you? PS You can of course keep your answer confidential!