[1] The World Economic Forum (WEF) have published several articles on The Fourth Industrial Revolution in the past few years. The following January 2016 article, written by WEF President Klaus Schwab would be a good starting point: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

[2] The business and society case for Executive Health was the focus of the previous book written by Steven MacGregor: Sustaining Executive Performance: How the New Self-Management Drives Innovation, Leadership, and a More Resilient World, Pearson:NY, 2015.

[3] C. B. Frey and M. Osborne, The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Oxford Martin School, September 2013.

[4] The quote comes from Michael Townsend Williams and is included in The Stress Report, a 2017 publication available for purchase at: http://www.thedolectures.com/shop/stressreport

[5] Jones Lang Lasalle Global Report 2017 by Dr. Marie Puybaraud, available for download at: http://humanexperience.jll/global-report/

[1] After the publication of these long-form Blog posts Tim Urban was commissioned by Elon Musk to write on Musk’s companies and surrounding industries. The first post which provides inspiration for us in Chapter 1 can be read here: https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html

[2] This quote from Peter Thiel was written within a general critique on his perceived lack of ambition in the Venture Capital (VC) funding industry, published on his own VC company website. An overview of this critique together with link to his article can be found at the following link: http://www.businessinsider.com/founders-fund-the-future-2011-7

[3] http://worldhappiness.report

[4] High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being, Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2010, 107 (38) 16489-16493; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011492107

[5] http://www.un.org/sustain-abledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

[1] Story of cities #13: Barcelona’s unloved planner invents science of ‘urbanisation’, by Marta Bausells, 1st April 2016, The Guardian. Available online at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/01/story-cities-13-eixample-barcelona-ildefons-cerda-planner-urbanisation

[2] A popular Internet Infographic of the past few years has concerned the time taken for different technologies to reach 50 million users. Indeed, we commissioned a version to appear as one of the figures in this chapter. A common version will show the car is shown as taking 62 years, the Internet taking 7 years, Facebook 3 years and the popular app-based game Angry Birds a mere 35 days. However, the accuracy of these figures is highly debatable with little verifiable sources, hence its omission, yet it nonetheless shows the general dynamic that surrounds the diffusion of technology in a more globalized world.

[3] We followed the commentary around small country effectiveness with particular interest leading up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The Harvard Business Review Blog included some articles making the case for the efficiencies to be gained, including the following; https://hbr.org/2014/09/the-economic-advantages-of-an-independent-scotland

[4] Future life expectancy in 35 industrialised countries: projections with a Bayesian model ensemble, Kontis, Vasilis et al., The Lancet, Volume 389 , Issue 10076 , 1323 – 1335.

[5] March of the machines: A special report on Artificial Intelligence, The Economist, June 25th-July 1st 2016.

[1] How great leaders inspire action by Simon Sinek has now amassed more than 37 million views on the TED site: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

[2] Seneca the Younger was one of the main Stoic philosophers, a school of thought that we touch on several times throughout the book. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was another well-known proponent of Stoicism.

[3] Rosenthal, Robert; Jacobson, Lenore (1992). Pygmalion in the classroom : teacher expectation and pupils’ intellectual development (Newly expanded ed.). Bancyfelin, Carmarthen, Wales: Crown House Pub. ISBN 978-1904424062.

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/measuringnationalwellbeing/apr2017

[2] An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, Originally published March 1776.

[3] Creating Sustainable Performance, Gretchen Spreitzer and Christine Porath, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2012.

[4] Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008.

[5] An interesting application of managing employees using Flow states is provided on First Round Review here: http://firstround.com/review/track-and-facilitate-your-engineers-flow-states-in-this-simple-way/ In addition to the usual Flow categories they discuss the extreme states of Apathy = Low Skill and Low Challenge, Anxiety = Low Skill and High Challenge, and Boredom = High Skill and Low Challenge. Transitionary states are Doubt when moving from Flow towards Anxiety, and Nostalgia when moving from Flow towards Boredom.

[6] The Rand workplace wellness programs study by Soeren Mattke and colleagues can be downloaded at the following link: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR254.html

[7] A Harvard Business Review interview with Andre Spicer, one of the authors of The Wellness Syndrome can be found here: https://hbr.org/2015/05/corporate-wellness-programs-make-us-unwell

[8] Mindfulness can literally change your brain, Christina Congleton, Britta K. Hölzel and Sara W. Lazar, Harvard Business Review Blog, 8th January 2015. Available online at: https://hbr.org/2015/01/mind­-fulness-can-literally-change-your-brain

[9] S. Danziger, J. Levav, and L. Avnaim-Pesso, “Extraneous Fac­tors in Judicial Deci- sions,” PNAS (Proceedings of the Na­tional Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) vol. 108, no. 17 (April 26, 2011): 6889–6892.

[1] Many books have been written on the exploits of the explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton. For a concise and specific treatment of leadership we recommend the Harvard Business School Case 803-127: Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance, by Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms and Philip Mead, April 2003.

[1] The New York Times magazine included a story on the rise and fall of Amy Cuddy on October 18th 2017, which gives great insight into the merging of science and celebrity in the Internet age: When the Revolution Came for Amy Cuddy, by Susan Dominus. Available online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/magazine/when-the-revolution-came-for-amy-cuddy.html

[2] What the Body Tells Us about Leadership by Art Kleiner, strategy+business, August 7th 2017. Available online at: https://www.strategy-business.com/article/What-the-Body-Tells-Us-about-Leadership

[3] See Take Off, Reference (2)

[4] N. Merchant, “Sitting Is the Smoking of Our Generation,” HBR Blog (January 14, 2013). https://hbr.org/2013/01/sitting-is-the-smoking-of-our-generation/.

[5] “Calorie burner: How much better is standing up than sitting?” BBC News Magazine (October 16, 2013). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24532996.

[6] M. Oppezzo and D. L. Schwartz, “Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition vol. 40, no. 4 (2014): 1142–1152

[7] Kandola A, Hendrikse J, Lucassen PJ, Yücel M. Aerobic Exercise as a Tool to Improve Hippocampal Plasticity and Function in Humans: Practical Implications for Mental Health Treatment. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016;10:373.

[8] Cassilhas RC, Tufik S, de Mello MT. Physical exercise, neuroplasticity, spatial learning and memory. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2016;73(5):975-83.

[9] Bherer L. Cognitive plasticity in older adults: effects of cognitive training and physical exercise. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2015;1337:1-6.

[10] Heijnen S, Hommel B, Kibele A, Colzato LS. Neuromodulation of Aerobic Exercise-A Review. Front Psychol. 2016;6:1890.

[1] Diffusion of Innovations (5th edition) Everett M. Rogers, Free Press.

[2] Innovation: The Attacker’s Advantage, Richard Foster, Summit Books.

[1] Work/life integration? No, thanks – I’d rather have balance, Ruth Whippman, The Pool. Available online at: https://www.the-pool.com/work/work-smarter/2017/17/ruth-whippman-on-work-life-balance

[2] A new perspective: Chronobiochemistry, H. W. Simpson, Essays in Medical Biochemistry II, (1976) 2, 115-187.

[3] Diurnal and Seasonal Mood Vary with Work, Sleep, and Daylength Across Diverse Cultures, SCOTT A. GOLDER, MICHAEL W. MACY, SCIENCE, 30 SEP 2011: 1878-1881.

[4] Circadian Entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle across Seasons and the Weekend, Stothard, Ellen R. et al., Current Biology, Volume 27 , Issue 4 , 508 – 513.

[5] Most of Professor Shiv’s work on Serotonin and Leadership comes within the context of his X framework. A good starting point for this would be the following article published on the Stranford Graduate School of Business website in 2013: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/baba-shiv-how-do-you-find-breakthrough-ideas

[6] An Internet meme showing the result of this hormone balance went viral in 2016. Love, happiness, and anxiety were some of the states shown for corresponding levels of Dopamine, Serotonin, and Oxytocin. While not completely accurate it shows the impact these chemicals have on our day-to-day mood and wellbeing: https://imgur.com/gallery/G624q

[1] Tamara Carleton and William Cockayne summarized much of their industry experience in The Playbook for Strategic Foresight and Innovation a free resource which can be downloaded at the Stanford University Foresight and Innovation lab here: https://foresight.stanford.edu

[2] The original interview with Jose Maria was published in the Sustaining Executive Performance book (Take Off, Ref 2). The transcript of the interview was published for the first time on the Blog of The Leadership Academy of Barcelona, available here: http://www.thelabcn.com/blog/2016/3/13/an-interview

[3] The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World, Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow and Marty Linsky, Harvard Business Review Press, 2009.

[1] Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013.

[2] Lally et al. How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world, European Journal of Social Psychology, 2010

[3] See Chapter 9, Reference 2.

[4] How Google Optimized Healthy Office Snacks, by Zoe Chance, Ravi Dhar, Michelle Hatzis and Michiel Bakker, Harvard Business Review Blog, 3rd March 2016. Available online at: https://hbr.org/2016/03/how-google-uses-behavioral-economics-to-make-its-employees-healthier

[5] Want to be More Productive? Sit Next to Someone Who Is, by Jason Corsello and Dylan Minor, Harvard Business Review Blog, 14th February 2017. Available online at: https://hbr.org/2017/02/want-to-be-more-productive-sit-next-to-someone-who-is

[6] Here comes SuperBoss, Schum­peter on The Economist, De­cem­ber 16th 2015.

[7] For the 2016 dataset all core program attendees at Telefónica University (around 1900) attended a Sustaining Executive Performance course. In short sessions spread over 3 days content was delivered on the ‘WHAT’ of executive health including mobility and exercise, sleep, mindfulness and nutrition and the ‘HOW’ of making good intentions stick with basic instruction on successful behaviour change. At the end of their course they wrote a self-addressed letter outlining a new positive habit that would improve their health and performance. This letter was mailed to them 100 days after the end of their course. On the letter was a link to an online form with two questions. An e-mail reminder was then sent to all to complete the questions.

The first question asked the degree of success on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 was having “completely forgotten about the commitment until the letter arrived” and 5 having “a new automatic daily habit.” The second question asked the respondent to choose from a list of 4 choices on where and when the habit was placed; 1) in the morning before arriving at work, 2) in the morning at work, 3) at work after lunch, and 4) in the evening after leaving work. We achieved a response rate over 30% and a total of 574 answers.

Our questions were designed to gain insight into two key variables for habit formation success; the environment and the time of day. Although we didn’t have well-formed hypotheses prior to the study we did have some expectations based on other research in the field as well as our own leadership development experiences the past 10 years. For example, regarding the time of day variable ‘decision fatigue’ research has found decision making to worsen as the day has proceeded. Other studies have shown both the likliehood to follow rules and even ethics to decrease over the course of time. Our expectation was therefore that the most successful habits would have been placed in the morning.

The importance of the environment, in our case either home or work, also provided an interesting variable, and connects with the SURROUNDINGS element of the 7S model. We would expect the home environment to be more ‘designed’, that is, shaped proactively by the respondent. Whether such changes would support good or bad habits is however open to question. The work environment design in contrast would be more outwith their control though it may offer greater discipline to follow through with habits in the health domain. In any case our expectation was that the home environment would offer a better opportunity for habit formation success, also because they would be more focused on their personal lives with healthy habits still perceived by many as a non-work topic.

For the 2017 dataset all attendees (around 1300) attended short sessions but this time with a greater focus on understanding habits. A total of two 45 minute sessions called ‘Habit Hacking’ were delivered within the usual weekly format of programs at the University. A commitment to one habit, either a new positive one to be implemented or an existing negative one to stop, was made at the end of the second session and shared directly with us via an online form. We then e-mailed back this change commitment 100 days after their attendance at the University and asked them how successful they were, again using a Likert 5 point scale, together with the identification of which of the seven habit ‘hacks’ they employed (with the 7S model having been presented in class). We also asked them the one key determining factor in their success or failure.

[8] Big Data and Tourism: New Indicators for Tourism Management, A publication by RocaSalvatella and Telefonica, May 2014.

[1] Some employees are rumored to hate the open floor plan at Apple’s new $5 billion campus, Kif Leswing, Business Insider, August 7th 2017. http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-employees-rumored-hate-apple-park-open-floor-plan-2017-8

[2] ;Global Impact of Biophilic Design in the Workplace, A Human Spaces report by Interface and led by Professor Sir Cary Cooper.

[3] A summary of this research, carried out at the University of Exeter can be found here: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_306119_en.html

[4] https://www.wellcertified.com

[1] We interviewed Professor Barnes for the book and have started to collaborate on new research projects. A summary of his recent research can be found on his faculty page here: https://foster.uw.edu/faculty-research/directory/christopher-barnes/

[2] Age effects in perception of time, Wittmann M., Lehnhoff S. Psychol Rep. 2005 Dec;97(3):921-35.