Happiness - Publications - Faculty & Research

Article

Every Large Point Set Contains Many Collinear Points or an Empty Pentagon

By: Zachary Abel, Brad Ballinger, Prosenjit Bose, Sébastien Collette, Vida Dujmović, Ferran Hurtado, Scott Duke Kominers, Stefan Langerman, Attila Pór and David Wood

We prove the following generalised empty pentagon theorem for every integer ℓ ≥ 2, every sufficiently large set of points in the plane contains ℓ collinear points or an empty pentagon. As an application, we settle the next open case of the “big line or big clique”... View Details

Keywords: Erdős-Szekeres Theorem; Happy End Problem; Big Line Or Big Clique Conjecture; Empty Quadrilateral; Empty Pentagon; Empty Hexagon

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02 Jun 2022
News

Blissful Thinking: When It Comes to Finding Happiness, 'Your Dreams Are Liars'

02 Apr 2024
What Do You Think?

What's Enough to Make Us Happy?

That’s not a bad yardstick for decision-making in the happiness business. Most of us would probably agree that “what’s enough” should be a bit of a stretch but achievable. For example, for many years my spouse and I shared an objective of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Aug 2023
Book

You’re More Than Your Job: 3 Tips for a Healthier Work-Life Balance

The days of sticking with one job through retirement are long gone. Younger workers are prioritizing happiness over workplace loyalty, often out of necessity. Harvard Business School senior lecturer Christina Wallace offers a roadmap for... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

05 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

To Buy Happiness, Purchase an Experience

Video directed and produced by Joanie Tobin Conventional wisdom says that money can't buy happiness. Behavioral science begs to differ. In fact, research shows that money can make us happier—but only if we spend it in particular ways. In their book View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

02 Oct 2020
News

In the tradeoff between saving money or time, most of us choose money. Here's why that's a flawed perspective.

08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

26 Feb 2015 - 28 Feb 2015
Conference Presentation

Is That All There Is to Happiness?

By: J. Phillips, C. Mott, Julian De Freitas, J. Gruber and J. Knobe

Happiness researchers have started to converge on a conception of happiness that involves some combination of high positive affect, low negative affect, and high life satisfaction. We present three studies which demonstrate that the ordinary understanding... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Happiness; Personal Characteristics

Citation

09 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

Editor's note: Every year, HBS Professor Clayton Christensen teaches students that well-tested academic theories can help them succeed not just in business, but in life. He expounds upon those lessons in his forthcoming book, How Will You Measure Your Life? Co-authored... View Details

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

A Balanced Scorecard Approach To Measure Customer Profitability

The Balanced Scorecard introduced customer metrics into performance management systems. Scorecards feature all manner of wonderful objectives relating to the customer value proposition and customer outcome metrics—for example, market share, account share, acquisition,... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan

21 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Fighting the COVID Blues: Advice from Business Research

for the time we reasonably need to get things done,” Whillans says. Gracefully bow out of extraneous activities. Many employers are trying to help their employees unwind by scheduling virtual coffee breaks, lunch gatherings, and happy... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman and Danielle Kost

10 Aug 2017
Cold Call Podcast

Pal's Sudden Service: Taking Fast Food to the Next Level

Keywords: Re: Gary P. Pisano; Food & Beverage

16 Aug 2013
News

Which will make you happier: Buying a new couch or going on a trip?

23 Feb 2018
Blog Post

How to thrive as an Introvert at HBS

HBS as an introvert. Do you have to be an extrovert to attend HBS? HBS is a social place. There is no doubt about it. You could easily fill up every second of your non-class hours with coffees, intramural sports, happy hours, dinners,... View Details

10 Mar 2020
News

Sorry, but Working From Home Is Overrated

21 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

To Buy Happiness, Spend Money on Other People

Video directed and produced by Joanie Tobin In their book Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, authors Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton draw on years of quantitative and qualitative research to explain how money can buy... View Details