We are in the midst of what some have called “a well-being revolution”: natural and functional foods, alternative therapies, meditation and more. That's partly a response to the pressures of modern life. One recent global survey of well-being found that only 1/6 of people alive today are thriving. 85% of us say we suffer from techno-stress. The responses are proportionate to the scale of problems like stress and obesity, and are far from niche. Drinking by young adults in the UK fell 40%. Meanwhile, 30% of Americans are avoiding gluten. It's also a whole new culture and mindset, pioneered by brands like Lululemon, ThriveGlobal, Wanderlust - one that combines kindness, deep relaxation, naturalness, gut health, authenticity, scientific tracking. Overall you could describe it as something like a global outbreak of niceness - despite (or in recent weeks against) the hard edged 'new populism' of Trump and Brexit era politics.
It was only a matter of time before this seeped into business culture. Initially it was enlightened businesses - stretched to the limit with stress and competing for the best talent - took well-being on board. But what started as a few HR reforms at companies like Google has started to change our view of what a business is, and what it is for. Brands and business leaders have started to realise that people increasingly look to business (not governments or civil society) to help us make progress. And conversely that acting on well-being, in the broad sense, is good for gaining trust and engagement.
The new wave of well-being is 80% social. That’s why there is a new book in the pipeline by author John Grant called “wellbeeing”. John has written a number of previous books including two on sustainability (one about not greenwashing and one about the sharing economy). Just like bees, we are a social species. We need much more than good food and exercise to thrive. We need fellowship and belonging, a stimulating environment, contact with nature, happy communities, a sense of purpose. We also benefit from social encouragement in our individual health efforts. Like the fun app StepJockey where people climbing the stairs at work combine into teams and track their progress in climbing real world mountains (or the equivalent height in steps).
Wellbeeing is where business comes in. If people are like bees, companies are the hives. Business used to labour under the mistaken idea that companies are like mechanisms, and all about financial results. But in the last few decades an alternative worldview moved in from innovative fringes of tech, eco and social progressive businesses. One that sees business fundamentally as a living human system. Its purpose being to produce wellbeing; including financial prosperity but also community, health, human progress.
John Grant’s planned new book explores how that ‘better’ idea took hold first in ‘free range’ workplaces; with their human-centred architecture and processes, flexible working, mindfulness classes. It looks at the evidence that these changes aren’t just nice, they produce better work. And it explores how ‘better’ as an ethos has seeped from workplace culture into the strategy, products, transparency, community and purpose of leading companies like Unilever, Vodafone and Microsoft. To do these trends justice John has stepped away from endless rational explanation and instead it's full of infographics, visual examples, fascinating facts and inspiring angles.
The book just opened for crowdfunding and you can view a video, sample pages and more details at https://unbound.com/books/better