Session Overview : With the increase in population that separates ‘work’ from ‘life’, as if work is absence of life, it becomes increasingly important to study about what happiness means to people at work, so that they can be made to feel alive in their offices too. This session is aimed at introducing two interesting research studies that aimed to do just that. Also, this session helps people understand if Kanban keeps us happy in the true sense. The two studies that this session will discuss about are as follows Richard M. Ryan’s Self Determination Theory – led to a book Drive by Dan Pink Mihaly’s Measurement of Flow in Everyday’s life – led to book Flow by Mihaly himself This session does not just explain these two research works and Kanban but also will find the commonalities between these and will engage the audience with discussions using leading questions, thereby bringing out personal examples that they can relate to.

1. Vivek Ganesan
Agile/DevOps Coach
Is KanbanTaking Us
TowardsHappy
Workplaces?
Workplace
Happiness

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3. WORKPLACE HAPPINESS
Is Kanban Taking Us Towards
Happy Workplaces?
Vivek Ganesan
Agile / DevOps Coach

4. What have we become?

5. What is
Workplace
Happiness?

6. Is the
Work - Life
Balance
narrative fair?

7. What do people
mean when they
say Work-Life
Balance?

8. What do people
mean when they
say Work-Life
Balance?
WORK LIFE

9. What do people
mean when they
say Work-Life
Balance?
WORK LIFE
There is NO
life in work

10. Is there a better
way to look at it?

11. Is there a better
way to look at it? WORK
LIFE
People experience life
while they work

12. Can work, by itself,
bring happiness?
Happiness at
Work

13. If everyone’s definition
of happiness differs…
How can we
effectively measure /
improve it ?

14. If you want to
measure happiness,
just ask people if
they are happy or
not

15. What if you
want to measure
improve
happiness levels?

16. Correlation is
the key

17. Good News
Correlation
studies already
exist

18. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Experience Sampling
Method

19. What is common among these three?

20. What is common among these three four?

21. What is common among these three?
● We don’t consciously realize the passage of time
● We have a good time engaging in these activities - We feel good while
we do them.
● We experience a state of FLOW

22. Will we be
happy at work
if our work is
FLOW
inducing?

23. What are the conditions necessary to induce a
state of FLOW?
Interesting & Clear Goals Frequent Feedback Manageable Challenges
Finished Task with Visible
Progress
Increase in Skill
Level
Satisfaction

24. Daniel Pink
Commentary on Self
Determination Theory
of Edward L . Deci and
Richard Ryan

25. What is common among these logos?

26. What is common among these logos?
● Voluntary contribution without remuneration (Not salaried employees)
● Why do people contribute their expertise and time without any
benefit?
● If they don’t derive happiness from this activity, why would they do it?

27. What motivates people?
Extrinsic
Motivation
Rewards & Punishments

28. What motivates people?
Extrinsic
Motivation
Rewards & Punishments
Intrinsic
Motivation
Motivation from within

29. What motivates people?
Extrinsic
Motivation
Rewards & Punishments
Intrinsic
Motivation
Motivation from within
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose

30. What motivates people?
Extrinsic
Motivation
Rewards & Punishments
Intrinsic
Motivation
Motivation from within
PERSONAL
SATISFACTION
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose

31. Does Kanban Make us Happy?
Factor Kanban
Conditions for Flow
Clear Goals
Frequent Feedback
Manageable Challenges
Drive - Personal Satisfaction
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose

32. What did we learn?
● Work-life balance
○ Bad narrative - Life at Work matters!
● Flow - Happiness as +ve
Engagement
○ Flow as a state of happiness
○ Pre-conditions of Flow
● Drive - Happiness as Personal
Satisfaction
○ Extrinsic Motivation - Carrots & Sticks
○ Intrinsic Motivation - Autonomy,
Mastery & Purpose
● Does Agility make us happy?
○ More happiness if entire business is
agile not just IT / Product Development
Happiness as positive
engagement
Happiness as personal
satisfaction

33. Thank you!!
You can permit me to send articles
on agile/devops at
http://www.bit.ly/permit-vivek
Hey! Did I tell you that I
am a published author?
WARNING: BLATANT
MARKETING ATTEMPT

34. Questions?