PIC No. 20:
• Title: Blind Spot: The Global Rise of Unhappiness and How Leaders Missed It
• Author: Jon Clifton
• Publisher: Gallup Press (Sept. 13, 2022, 352 pages)
• Management Bucket #2 of 20: The Customer Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 20 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.
Preach It!
If…I were a pastor, I would put my current sermon series on pause. Then I’d use my Bible and this hot-off-the-press book from Gallup—with 20 thought-provoking chapters. There’s enough meat in this remarkable book for 20 sermons, but maybe you’ll just pick your Top-10 favorites.
Jon Clifton, the CEO of Gallup, has two words for leaders: “Blind Spot.” (You’re probably not surprised, are you?) This is another must-read book: Blind Spot: The Global Rise of Unhappiness and How Leaders Missed It.
My measure of a good book: how often do I read a paragraph or a whole page to my wife? Joanne doesn’t need to read Blind Spot—because I’ve read most of the book to her already! When the book arrived, I skipped to Chapter 16, “A Letter to Rwandan President Paul Kagame.” I was hooked.
Then, properly, I read the intro and the overview—and kept going. Along the way, Clifton engages us in really big issues—but with humility. Why is there a global rise in unhappiness—and are our corporate and government leaders that clueless? (Gallup defines “happiness” as “subjective wellbeing,” but publishers apparently think “happiness” will sell more books! I love the transparency!)
Here are seven teasers to share with your pastor or religious leader:
#1. HAPPIEST PERSON IN THE U.S. The Gallup World Poll has been conducted in “over 160 countries and in 171 difference languages. In Africa alone, we have interviewed in 82 different languages.” (Stunning!) In 2011, a New York Times reporter asked Gallup, “What is the demographic profile of the happiest person in the United States?”
Gallup’s response enabled the reporter to find one person who fit Gallup’s response. Alvin Wong meets an unusual set of criteria. He is “Asian American, married with children, a Hawaii resident, an observant Jew, a tall male, a business owner, over 65, and making more than $120,000 per year.” The NYT story went viral and now Wong is a motivational speaker with his own website!
#2. SURVEY SCIENCE 101. You’ve likely conducted formal or informal research using surveys, assessments, five-finger feedback, and other methods. But do you know the science behind the surveys—and how you ask the question might tilt the results? Throughout this book, I so appreciated the transparent and helpful (non-technical) pointers on what I’d label “survey science 101.” Example: In 2019, the President of Rwanda took issue with Gallup’s World Happiness Report during a speech at Columbia University. Chapter 16 is the Gallup CEO’s response to President Paul Kagame and discusses “three hypotheses for why Rwandans rank their lives so low.” (Fascinating—and pretty good sermon material!)
#3. IT’S NOT THE ECONOMY, STUPID. The Bible warns against the love of money—and not equating money with happiness. (Gallup has research!) The author’s probing theme, based on research: how people see their lives and how people live their lives. So, it won’t surprise you to learn that Gallup has asked citizens in the U.K. this simple two-part question:
“Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you.
• Q1: On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time? (0-10)
• Q2: Just your best guess, on which step do you think you will stand in the future, say about five years from now? (0-10)”
Whew! The research and the results are fascinating. Is your country near the top or the bottom on the happiness rankings? Trust me—you’ll read this entire book and wonder about (along with the author) why the survey results seem so contrarian to your unresearched biases! (Great sermon material!)
#4. THE 3 BILLION BLIND SPOT: "GREAT" JOBS. Oh, my. The graphic on page 101 is heart-breaking! Of the 7.7 billion people on the planet, 3 billion don’t have a great job. And there are more contrarian prods from Gallup:
“The current global unemployment metric holds leaders accountable to the lowest common denominator for jobs. The message is: ‘Let’s get the number of people with no work to the lowest percentage possible.’ Instead, the message should be: ‘Let’s get the number of people with great jobs to the highest percentage possible.’”
#5. COLLEGE DEBT/SCARS. In Chapter 9, “Does Money Buy Happiness?” Clifton notes a Gallup survey of U.S. college grads with one question, “How does college debt affect people’s wellbeing?” Read the details in that chapter, but note this now: The researchers found that “college debt leaves an emotional scar on people even after they pay off the debt.” (Pastor’s Pop Quiz: How many of the New Testament parables address money?)
#6. MINISTER OF LONELINESS. You can’t read this book without taking a deep breath and wonder if you, your organization, your house of worship, or your government could do more on improving the lives of people (and their happiness). See Chapters 14 to 17 on “Four Unanswered Questions,” including “How Are Women’s Lives Going?” and some puzzling research about Singapore, “The Emotionless Society.” (Note: For a very interesting profile on Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, watch for my review of Henry Kissinger’s new book, Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy.)
Yet this is encouraging: “Governments are starting to take loneliness seriously. For example, Japan and the U.K. each have ministers of loneliness to tackle this problem.” (Does your church have a Minister of Loneliness? Is this a blind spot? Survey the residents in your zip code—and you might need to add a volunteer or staff position to address loneliness.)
#7. IF U.S. STATES WERE COUNTRIES. This is fascinating! Gallup inserted all 50 U.S. states into the World Happiness Report rankings (averaged over 2016-2018). Are the people in your state happy?
• Utah and Alaska ranked the highest (#7 worldwide)
• North Dakota and Hawaii were ranked #9
• West Virginia ranked the lowest at #66
• Mississippi, Kentucky, and Arkansas were a notch up at #51.
The Top-5 happiest countries (in order): Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Netherlands. (My Swedish friends came in at #12.)
I’m not joking—I could envision pastors and priests creating a sermon series around these big life issues, supplemented by small group discussions with trained facilitators. How about an annual online survey, “Our Church’s Happiness Report.” (I have dibs on the URL!)
PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Customer Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies.
• It's the Manager: Gallup Finds the Quality of Managers and Team Leaders Is the Single Biggest Factor in Your Organization's Long-Term Success, by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter (read my review)
• Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Well-Being, by Al Lopus with Cory Hartman (read my review)
• Living Your Strengths: Discover Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your Community, by Albert L. Winseman, Donald O. Clifton, and Curt Liesveld (read my review)
• The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, by Hannah Whitall Smith (read the Kindle Edition)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Blind Spot: The Global Rise of Unhappiness and How Leaders Missed It, by Jon Clifton. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. (And thanks to Fortier PR and the publisher for sending me a review copy.)
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