Douglas Flora: Are you increasing the Global Happiness Index?

Douglas Flora, Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, shared a post on LinkedIn:

Are you increasing the Global Happiness Index (GHI)?

“Thank you to everyone who reached out about my piece on the Global Happiness Index. Your messages confirmed what I’ve long suspected: We’re hungry for frameworks that measure success beyond profit margins and productivity metrics. What began as a simple concept—measuring our actions by their contribution to collective well-being—seems to have struck a chord in a world increasingly questioning traditional definitions of progress and achievement.

This idea began in my home as a family value, a way to encourage my children to think beyond themselves. “Did you help increase the GHI today?” I would ask as they returned from school.” The question redirected their focus from grades and achievements to human connection and impact. Did they notice the child sitting alone? Did they offer encouragement when a classmate struggled? Did they, in some modest way, reduce suffering in their immediate environment?

What began as a family framework gradually evolved into a leadership philosophy that has guided my professional life, particularly in healthcare. While the language became more formal—patient satisfaction, staff engagement, operational efficiency—the underlying question remained unchanged: Are we increasing the Global Happiness Index? Are we reducing suffering? Are we creating conditions where dignity and connection can flourish?

Why the GHI Matters Now:

We live in a time of profound challenges and breathtaking possibilities. The systems we’ve built to measure success—quarterly earnings reports, productivity metrics, efficiency scores—have delivered remarkable material prosperity but often at significant human cost. The rising rates of burnout, disengagement, and mental health challenges in our workplaces suggest that something essential is missing from our leadership models.

I’ve been drawn to the GHI framework because it addresses this gap. It acknowledges that organizational health depends on what we produce, how we produce it, and who we become. It recognizes that leaders shape environments that nurture or deplete the human spirit, with cascading effects extending beyond workplace boundaries.

Some might dismiss this perspective as naive idealism, but I’ve found it practical. The organizations that flourish long-term create conditions where people can do their best work while becoming their best selves. The leaders who inspire extraordinary commitment see their role as extracting value and cultivating well-being.

Several books have profoundly shaped my thinking in this area, volumes I regularly revisit and gift to emerging leaders around me. Richard Sheridan‘s “Chief Joy Officer” stands out for me as required reading. When I first encountered the title, it struck me as revolutionary. Rather than relegating joy to an afterthought or a weekend pursuit, Sheridan places it at the center of leadership responsibility. This terminology has become a powerful reminder that creating conditions for joy is not peripheral to leadership but central to it.

Dave Logan‘s “Tribal Leadership” and Jim Collins‘s “Good to Great” offer complementary perspectives. Logan’s observations about how language shapes culture and Collins’s description of “Level 5 Leadership” combine humility with fierce resolve helped me understand that purpose-driven leadership is not soft but profoundly human and remarkably effective.

Historical Context and Research Foundations:

Though the GHI began as my personal framework, it draws on rich traditions of thought about human flourishing. Jeremy Bentham‘s utilitarian principle of “the greatest happiness for the greatest number” proposed in the late 18th century remains remarkably relevant to contemporary discussions around stakeholder capitalism. In 1972, the Kingdom of Bhutan established “Gross National Happiness” as an alternative to GDP, creating a measurement framework that includes psychological well-being, health, education, and community vitality.

The research supporting happiness-centered approaches has grown impressively in recent years. Shawn Achor‘s studies at Harvard demonstrated that happiness precedes success rather than resulting from it—optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56%. In comparison, doctors in positive states are 19% faster and more accurate in making diagnoses. Kim Cameron‘s research on positive organizational scholarship found that companies practicing “positive leadership” significantly outperformed competitors in terms of productivity, quality, and employee retention.

These findings align with my observations across different healthcare settings. Teams that focus on purpose and positive impact demonstrate greater resilience through challenges, higher quality outcomes, and more sustainable performance than those driven primarily by metrics and compliance.

The GHI in Daily Practice:

The GHI framework’s power lies in its practicality. It can guide decisions in any context, from momentary interactions to strategic planning.

When I find myself in a long grocery checkout line, the GHI reminds me that the cashier didn’t create the situation and might be having a challenging day. A genuine smile and “thank you for your patience today” can tip the global scale toward the positive.

In airport terminals, those temples of collective stress, small kindnesses take on outsized significance. Helping an elderly traveler with luggage or simply acknowledging the humanity of service workers creates ripples of relief in high-tension environments.

I’ve witnessed the transformative effect of unexpected affirmation in professional settings. There’s something magnetic about the expression on someone’s face when you expressly acknowledge their contribution, especially in front of respected colleagues. Taking thirty seconds to highlight someone’s work to senior leadership costs nothing but creates a visible shift in their confidence and subsequent engagement.

Similarly, strategic inclusion can accelerate professional development. Inviting emerging leaders to meetings slightly above their organizational level gives them exposure, context, and relationships that formal development programs rarely provide. This increases their happiness and effectiveness, creating a virtuous cycle that benefits the organization.

GHI as Organizational Strategy:

This journey’s most challenging and rewarding aspect has been scaling the GHI from personal practice to organizational strategy. How can we more intentionally build systems, policies, and cultures that consistently increase collective well-being?

Richard Sheridan’s work at Menlo Innovations provides one compelling model. As Sheridan describes in “Chief Joy Officer” (a book I’ve gifted more than any other leadership text), his software company has built extraordinary customer loyalty and employee retention by prioritizing a positive workplace where “people run toward problems, not away from them.” What strikes me about Sheridan’s approach is its practicality—joy isn’t treated as a vague aspiration but as an organizing principle that shapes everything from office design to meeting structures to hiring practices.

Research on positive organizational practices supports this approach. Compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, and integrity benefit human outcomes (engagement, well-being) and business outcomes (profitability, productivity). The most effective organizations operate in what Dave Logan calls a “Stage Four” culture, characterized by “we’re great” language and values-driven decision-making.

The Global Happiness Index provides a unifying framework for these approaches. It asks: Does this decision, policy, or practice increase or decrease the net happiness in our sphere of influence? Does it reduce suffering? Does it create conditions where people can thrive?

This perspective transforms organizational priorities when applied systematically. It challenges the false dichotomy between “people-focused” and “results-focused” leadership, recognizing that sustainable results depend on human flourishing.

GHI in a World of Suffering:

I developed the GHI concept partly because I felt overwhelmed by suffering I couldn’t directly address—natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and systemic inequities. Rather than succumbing to compassion fatigue, I needed a framework acknowledging the enormity of global challenges and the significance of local action.

The GHI offers this balanced perspective. It recognizes that while I cannot single-handedly end poverty or resolve international conflicts, I can influence the immediate environments I inhabit. I can reduce suffering within my sphere of influence, creating meaningful improvements in the global balance sheet.

Research on “helper’s high,” the neurochemical change that occurs when we help others, supports this approach. When we engage in acts of generosity, our brains release oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, creating positive emotional states that benefit recipients and givers.

Even more striking, this effect appears to be contagious. Research from Harvard and UC San Diego found that happiness spreads through social networks like a positive contagion. When one person becomes happier, the probability of close friends’ increased happiness rises by 25%. The implications are profound: Your happiness creates ripple effects through your social networks, potentially reaching people you’ve never met.

Beyond Toxic Positivity:

The GHI framework isn’t about enforcing superficial cheerfulness or suppressing legitimate concerns. What organizational psychologist Adam Grant calls “toxic positivity”—the insistence on looking on the bright side regardless of circumstances—undermines authentic connection and meaningful change.

Authentic happiness-centered leadership acknowledges difficulties, validates struggles, and creates space for human emotion. It differentiates between productive discomfort that drives growth and unnecessary suffering that depletes resilience.

This perspective has been critical in healthcare settings, where acknowledging challenges is essential to addressing them. Psychological safety—the belief that one won’t be punished for speaking up with ideas, questions, or concerns—enables teams to address problems directly rather than working around them. Increasing the Global Happiness Index often means creating conditions where brutal truths can be expressed and challenging emotions acknowledged.

GHI as Personal Development:

The Global Happiness Index changes how we lead others and how we experience our work and lives. Shifting attention from self-focus to contribution addresses what psychologist Martin Seligman identifies as a key source of meaningfulness: using personal strengths to serve something larger than oneself.

This shift often triggers what positive psychologists call “eudaimonic well-being”—happiness derived not from pleasure or achievement but from living in accordance with one’s deepest values. Unlike hedonic well-being (feeling good), eudaimonic well-being persists through difficulty and provides resilience during challenging periods.

I’ve personally experienced this during professional setbacks. When initiatives I championed failed to achieve desired outcomes, focusing on what I learned and how I might better serve in the future provided a perspective that achievement-based metrics could not. The question wasn’t, “Did I succeed?” but “Did I increase the GHI through my efforts, regardless of outcome?”

Implementing the GHI in Your Context:

How might you apply the Global Happiness Index in your particular environment? Here are some approaches that have proven effective in my experience:

1. Start with small, intentional actions. Sustainable change begins with manageable behaviors that gradually become automatic. Identify one daily interaction where you could intentionally increase the GHI.
2. Create recognition rituals. Even simple practices, such as beginning meetings by acknowledging specific contributions, can shift team dynamics toward positivity.
3. Measure what matters. Consider what happiness-related metrics might be relevant in your context, such as employee engagement, customer satisfaction, psychological safety, or even the frequency of genuine laughter in meetings.
4. Practice perspective-taking. Before making decisions, ask: How will this affect the happiness of various stakeholders? Who might experience suffering as a result of this choice? How could we mitigate negative impacts?
5. Build psychological safety. Acknowledge your mistakes and respond appreciatively to concerns to increase team effectiveness dramatically.

The Ripple Effect:

The Global Happiness Index’s network effect makes it particularly powerful. When you intentionally increase happiness within your sphere of influence, those you affect are likelier to do the same in their environments.

I’ve witnessed this ripple effect in healthcare settings. When leaders prioritize reducing staff suffering, staff members become more attentive to patient suffering. Patients who experience genuine care often extend greater patience to family members. The initial investment in happiness creates cascading returns throughout the system.

This dynamic suggests a different approach to change from traditional models. Rather than attempting comprehensive organizational transformation, GHI-focused leaders can create conditions for positive contagion—small, strategic interventions that spread through social networks and gradually shift cultural norms.

The Courage to Care:

It takes courage to prioritize happiness in environments focused on metrics, deliverables, and bottom lines. It requires what philosopher Martha Nussbaum calls “political emotions”—the willingness to make public decisions based on compassion and human dignity despite potential skepticism.

Yet, the evidence increasingly suggests that this courage represents ethical leadership and strategic wisdom. Organizations prioritizing employee well-being outperform those that don’t, with higher customer satisfaction, lower turnover, more significant innovation, and, ultimately, stronger financial performance.

The Global Happiness Index offers a framework for leadership that is simultaneously idealistic and pragmatic. It values human flourishing and organizational effectiveness. It challenges the false choice between doing good and doing well, suggesting that the surest path to sustainable success lies in reducing suffering and increasing joy within our sphere of influence.

When I face difficult decisions, the GHI clarifies: Which option will increase collective happiness? Which will most effectively reduce suffering? Which aligns with the world I want to help create.

This orientation has never failed me, even when specific initiatives have not achieved the desired outcomes. By focusing on contribution rather than achievement, the GHI framework provides resilience through setbacks and meaning beyond success.

I invite you to experiment with this approach in your own context. Ask yourself: How might I increase the Global Happiness Index today through actions large and small? What suffering might I alleviate? What joy might I catalyze? The answers will differ for each of us, but the question can transform how we lead, work, and live.

REFERENCES:

1. Bentham J. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1789.
2. Ura K, Alkire S, Zangmo T, Wangdi K. An Extensive Analysis of GNH Index. Thimphu: The Centre for Bhutan Studies; 2012.
3. Achor S. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. New York: Crown Business; 2010.
4. Cameron K. Positive Leadership: Strategies for Extraordinary Performance. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 2012.
5. Sheridan R. Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear. New York: Portfolio; 2018.
6. Logan D, King J, Fischer-Wright H. Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization. New York: Harper Business; 2008.
7. Collins J. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t. New York: HarperBusiness; 2001.
8. Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study. BMJ. 2008;337:a2338.
9. Grant A. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. New York: Viking; 2021.
10. Edmondson A. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons; 2018.”

More posts featuring Douglas Flora.