Why Work Isn't Working Anymore? Let's begin with what makes us happy . . .

'FOR more than 70 years, economists have been fixated with measuring economic ouput. Their chosen measure, gross domestic product, has limitations—it takes no account of natural-resource depletion and excludes unpaid services such as volunteering. On May 24th the OECD launched its alternative measure of well-being which includes 20 different indicators across 11 sectors in its 34 member countries, from life satisfaction to air pollution. It has produced an interactive tool which allows users to change the weight of each sector according to their own view of its importance. The chart below shows the results of its headline Better Life index (which is equally weighted) plotted against GDP per person at purchasing-power parity (which adjusts GDP for differences in the cost of living across countries).' (The Economist, May 24, 2011)

There is much worth discussing in this report and we will be doing just that at the CrediblyConnect blog over the next several weeks. Suffice it to say there are some surprises that are relevant to the workplace and to all of our lives vis a vis understanding human satisfaction, from where it emanates and mostly where it does not.