Heavy dark rainclouds hang over Kaprun. Simone Kilian and Christoph Bründl, who first met at a seminar on happiness, had actually agreed to go hiking together. Despite the continual rain, they decide to go for a short walk and an intense discussion: Sitting on the little bench in the dry under the eaves of a charming old house, they talk about happiness in everyday working life.
Anyone witnessing the two talking immediately notices that they speak the same language. Christoph is interested in the notion of “flourishing” because he considers himself a gardener: “I want to get people to bloom. To which end, I need to know where there’s a lack of water, fertilizer, or air,” he explains. “But with that mindset you’re already creating a nourishing environment for your staff,” replies Simone. In the search for happiness in everyday working life, Christoph, she feels, “is doing everything right anyway”. Giving people an opportunity to go and grow beyond themselves is something that gives not only him a deep sense of happiness, but also the staff and even their families. It is Christoph who enables each of them to do what he or she can do best in the work setting. And if one adds the right measure of challenges, too, then the staff members will soon be in the flow. Simone emphasizes that this is a well-researched source of happiness at work.
“Happiness is not a state, but a decision you take every day,” Simone insists. “The key to happiness is mindfulness, again something that is a lived practice in Bründl that others could learn from! The lever to happiness is gratitude; multipliers are empathy and benevolence.” Christoph closes his eyes for a moment while absorbing what she is saying. And then he asks: “So can we actually learn happiness?” And Simone’s answer is: “Yes!” Down through the years she’s developed a set of Supertools that are easy to understand and use. “FITGO, for example, means that whenever something stupid happens in our lives, such as getting stuck in traffic, we should ask ourselves: For what is this a good opportunity?” Together with Simone, Christoph has got that crucial bit closer to happiness. While it might sound trivial, the secret is the change of perspective, to see things positively. And it can best be trained simply by using the Supertools!
