Too many teams drift in the ‘OK’ performance zone. Doing better requires a more human approach to leadership
Writing: Nic Marks
For more than a decade, workplace wellbeing has enjoyed an extraordinary rise. Organizations have created mental health programs, introduced hybrid working, trained wellbeing champions, and encouraged people to take care of themselves. And yet, despite the growth of this industry, many employees still feel stretched, fatigued, or are quietly struggling. Burnout levels remain high. Turnover continues to disrupt teams. And, perhaps most concerning of all, large parts of the workforce sit in an emotional middle zone where nothing is particularly wrong, but very little feels energizing. They are stuck in ‘OK’ – drifting, not thriving.
Leaders can sense that something isn’t quite working. The problem is not a lack of goodwill or investment. It’s that wellbeing, as commonly measured and managed, only takes us so far. Wellbeing tells us whether people are coping; it does not reliably tell us whether they are thriving. In most situations, thriving is what organizations actually need.
This is why happiness matters. Happiness is a clearer, more intuitive, and more emotionally resonant concept than wellbeing. Everyone knows what it means to feel happy at work. We recognize it instantly – in our energy, our relationships, our focus, our sense of possibility. Happiness is also dynamic. It ebbs and flows from week to week, reflecting how well our inner experience fits the environment around us. These ups and downs are not distractions; they are signals. They tell us whether people are aligned with their roles, connected to their colleagues, and supported by their team culture. Happiness, in other words, is a live measure of how well work is working.
When organizations grasp this, they begin to see that happiness is not frivolous. It is functional. And when you invest in happiness, you are investing directly in success.
Why wellbeing struggles – and happiness succeeds
Most organizations now understand the importance of wellbeing. No leader wants burnt out or distressed employees. But wellbeing, as typically defined, has two limitations.
First, it lacks emotional clarity. Wellbeing encompasses stress, health, balance, safety and resilience – vital concepts, yet often too broad to be motivational. People rarely wake up saying, “I want to maximize my wellbeing today.” But “I want to feel happy at work”? That resonates. The emotional immediacy of happiness makes it a far more powerful measure for understanding motivation, creativity and engagement.
Second, wellbeing is often static. It tends to be measured, if at all, annually or sporadically, which means the data is backward-looking. It captures states long after they have occurred. Happiness behaves differently. Because it fluctuates naturally, it can be measured frequently – monthly or even weekly – giving leaders a dynamic understanding of how people feel in real time.
This dynamism matters. Over the last decade, large-scale research – including robust studies from Oxford University tracking British Telecom sales operators for six months – has shown that happiness strongly predicts performance, especially in complex or emotionally demanding tasks. Happier employees think more flexibly, solve problems more creatively, and navigate difficult interactions with greater skill. They are also far less likely to leave. Happiness acts as both an accelerator and a stabilizer, fueling performance while buffering against burnout.
Wellbeing may tell us if someone is suffering. Happiness tells us whether they are flourishing.
The hidden danger of OK cultures
When teams are unhappy, the signs are obvious: conflict, withdrawal, complaints, absences. But the most damaging emotional state is
often the quiet middle zone where people report feeling “fine.” These OK cultures can drift for months – sometimes years – without triggering alarm, yet they steadily undermine motivation and performance.
OK cultures lack momentum. They don’t generate the spark that happiness brings, yet they don’t create the urgency that unhappiness does. They breed stagnation. People stop volunteering ideas. Collaboration becomes perfunctory. Energy drains away. Turnover rises almost invisibly, one person at a time.
Because happiness is dynamic, it reveals this stagnation long before performance metrics do. A slight downward trend in weekly emotional tone can predict future problems with startling accuracy. Leaders who track happiness can intervene early; those who don’t often discover issues only after they have become serious.
Why teams matter more than organizations
Most organizations talk about culture as a whole – values, principles, mission statements, leadership standards. But few people experience culture at this level. They experience culture in the day-to-day reality of their immediate team. This is where trust is built, where conflict arises, where expectations are negotiated, where fairness is judged. It is also where people feel most deeply whether they fit or belong.
The evidence is clear: team culture has nearly three times the influence on a person’s happiness at work than organizational culture does. You can work for a company with wonderful values and still feel miserable if your team is dysfunctional. Conversely, a strong, supportive team can create a bubble of positivity even within a struggling organization.
This makes team leaders central to the emotional life of the workplace. Their behavior sets the tone; their presence shapes the climate. Yet most receive little training in how to lead people well. They are often promoted for technical expertise rather than relational skill. Supporting team leaders – giving them the tools to build trust, have better conversations, and navigate emotional dynamics – is one of the most effective ways to improve workplace happiness.
And because happiness is dynamic, leaders must not only understand team culture – but they must also track it. This means paying attention to emotional patterns, not once a year, but week by week.
How to increase happiness at work
If happiness is to be taken seriously, leaders need a grounded, practical framework for creating it. The Five Ways to Happiness at Work provide exactly that. They are not abstract ideals but everyday practices that shape the emotional fabric of teams.
Connection is the foundation. Humans are social creatures, and work is fundamentally relational. When people feel seen, trusted and valued by their colleagues, happiness grows. Without connection, even the most meaningful work feels brittle.
Fairness is the quiet engine of motivation. People care deeply about being treated consistently and respectfully. Fairness builds trust; unfairness erodes it instantly. Leaders who are transparent in their decisions – and generous in their assumptions – create environments where people feel safe.
Empowerment gives people ownership. Autonomy is one of the most powerful drivers of motivation. When people have a say in how they work, not just what they do, they feel energized and engaged. Micromanagement suffocates happiness; empowerment lifts it.
Challenge stimulates growth. Happiness is not about relaxation. It thrives when people feel stretched – but not overwhelmed. Matching skills with challenge creates flow: that deeply satisfying experience of being absorbed in meaningful work.
Inspiration brings purpose to the surface. People want to know that their work matters – that it contributes to something larger. Inspiration reconnects them to a sense of meaning and possibility.
Together, the Five Ways offer leaders a simple language for understanding and improving the emotional quality of work. They translate the idea of happiness into concrete daily actions.
The rhythm that builds happier teams
If happiness is dynamic, our approach to cultivating it must be dynamic too. This is where the rhythm of Measure–Meet–Repeat becomes invaluable.
Annual surveys are too slow and too blunt to influence behavior. But a short weekly check-in on happiness – combined with a brief team conversation – creates a habit of reflection that steadily strengthens culture.
The process is disarmingly simple. Measurement provides a pulse: a snapshot of how the team feels this week, not last quarter. Meeting brings those emotions into conversation: what went well, what was frustrating, what needs adjusting. Repeating the cycle builds momentum, creating a flywheel of continuous improvement.
Over time, this rhythm transforms teams. It deepens trust, surfaces problems early, reinforces shared responsibility, and embeds the Five Ways in everyday behavior.
Happiness stops being an aspiration, and becomes a practice.
Why happiness is the future of leadership
The modern workplace is emotionally complex. Hybrid working has changed how relationships form. Technology accelerates expectations. People want purpose, fairness and meaning – not just a paycheck. In this environment, leaders need more than strategy and technical expertise. They need emotional literacy. They need to understand not just what people do, but how people feel doing it.
Happiness provides that insight. It is the most human – and the most practical – emotional metric we have. It captures motivation, connection, fairness, creativity and energy in one clear signal. It moves quickly. It reflects reality. And it shows leaders, with remarkable precision, when things are working and when they are not.
When happiness rises, performance follows. When happiness falls, problems are already forming. And when happiness stagnates, teams quietly drift into OK-ness – a state far more dangerous than it appears.
Taking happiness seriously does not mean chasing constant positivity. It means paying attention to emotional reality and creating conditions where people can genuinely thrive. It means supporting team leaders, strengthening relationships, and building rhythms that keep teams connected and moving forward.
Ultimately, happiness is not the opposite of seriousness. Happiness is what makes serious work possible. It fuels creativity, sustains resilience, and anchors collaboration. It ripples outward – to clients, candidates, partners, and even investors. It is both human and strategic.
If you invest in happiness, you invest in success. And happiness, in the end, is a serious business.
Nic Marks is an award-winning statistician, TED speaker, and author of Happiness is a Serious Business (Rethink Press)
