By Laszlo Bock
Harvard Business Review - March 27, 2014
More than 65 years ago in Massachusetts, doctors began a longitudinal
study that would transform our understanding of heart disease. The Framingham Heart Study,
which started with more than 5,000 people and continues to this day,
has become a data source for not just heart disease, but also for
insights about weight loss (adjusting your social network helps people
lose weight), genetics (inheritance patterns), and even happiness
(living within a mile of a happy friend has a 25% chance of making you
happier).
Upon reading about the study, I wondered if the idea of such
long-term research could be attempted in another field that touches all
of us: work. After more than a decade in People Operations, I believe
that the experience of work can be — should be — so much better. We all
have our opinions and case studies, but there is precious little
scientific certainty around how to build great work environments,
cultivate high performing teams, maximize productivity, or enhance
happiness.
Inspired by the Framingham research, our People Innovation Lab
developed gDNA, Google’s first major long-term study aimed at
understanding work. Under the leadership of PhD Googlers Brian Welle and
Jennifer Kurkoski, we’re two years into what we hope will be a
century-long study. We’re already getting glimpses of the smart
decisions today that can have profound impact on our future selves, and
the future of work overall.
Read more....
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