This post is based on a question that I answered previously on Quora.
I’m not sure it will become a big thing at companies, but here are some observations that could feed its growth or at least support a niche market:
- The business schools (particularly in the behavioral science areas) have increasingly added courses that incorporate the science of happiness, and the b-schools feed consulting companies and increasingly entrepreneurial endeavors. Here’s an example of an applied happiness course at the UCLA Anderson School of Management: If You Want to Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life, Optimize It with Scientific Design
- Addressing areas like financial wellbeing, connections to overall wellbeing, and antecedents to both have started to spread into organizations whether in thought leadership or applied settings. If happiness efforts are tied into mainstream issues related to HR, marketing, or product design, then it might be able to ride on familiar value propositions where consulting engagements could be justified. For example, think about various “random acts of kindness” campaigns that some companies have run (some better, some worse).
- There appears to be a growing generation of people who are concerned about excessive materialism and consumerism. Leveraging the science of happiness could potentially be a good ingredient to capitalize on. Innovators will figure out how to provide better customer experiences and products to these segments and take some share away from incumbents.