Seeking the Good

Humanity’s superpower is prospection—but if left unchecked, it can turn detrimental. Emerging research suggests that, when contemplating our goals in life, we should be keenly aware of our ‘feared selves’, ‘ought selves’, and ‘ideal selves’. Only then can we adventure toward the future.

Ryan Meachen, Associate Research Fellow, Leadership & Happiness Laboratory

On the one-year anniversary of Seeking the Good’s launch, we reflect on who we are, how we write, and why ideas such as these matter.

Bryce Fuemmeler, Senior Research Associate, Leadership & Happiness Laboratory and Managing Editor, Seeking the Good

The literature on child play is robust, but its prescriptions—that movement, boredom, and fearlessness are a boon for well-being—rarely overlap with the managerial science. That's a shame, and a missed opportunity: The workplace would do well to learn from what Aristotle called "the energy of youth."

Dilan Gomih, Founder of Dilagence, Harvard Business School '19

Medicine and spirituality are seemingly at odds, but perhaps they shouldn't be. Drawing from her surgical background and Hindu tradition, Dr. Tarinee Kucchal, MBBS, argues why medicine could benefit from taking an intellectual adventure into the metaphysical.

Dr. Tarinee Kucchal, MBBS, Research Fellow for the Leadership & Happiness Laboratory

Across the West, fertility rates are in decline—and that, argues the psychologist Clay Routledge, is because the aspiration to become a parent is in decline. Yet parenthood is consistently ranked as the most meaningful and fulfilling aspect of one’s adult life.

How can we understand this paradox? And how can we revivify family formation to boost meaning across American culture?

Dr. Clay Routledge, VP of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab, Archbridge Institute

Organizations inevitably encounter competing tensions that provoke stress, anxiety, and discomfort, which in turn hurt firm performance. Yet in integrating the concept of harmony—by bolstering an organization’s shared purpose, willingness to collaborate, and psychological safety—leaders can take practical steps to revivify their organizational culture.

Dr. Marc Correa, Visiting Scholar at the Leadership & Happiness Laboratory and Professor at ESADE Business School

Today’s university is gripped by polarization. Yet this should not obscure the fact that disagreement, when done properly, bolsters our own views and moves us closer to truth. A first step toward this end is to re-engage with philosophy, which has power to ignite a virtuous culture on campus, not in spite of—but because of—our disagreements.

Dr. Xavier Symons, Director of the Plunkett Centre for Ethics, The Australian Catholic University

Negative thought patterns, spurred by excessive rumination, are corrosive to our well-being. In an adaptation of her recent lecture at the Harvard Business School, renowned psychologist Dr. Laurie Santos shows us the best practices to rewire this troubling tendency.

Dr. Laurie Santos, Professor of Psychology, Yale University

Leadership isn’t easy, and, indeed, can be painful. But when pain inevitably arrives, we oughtn’t run from it. Instead, social science points to reliable ways to improve one’s well-being amid hard times.

Alexis Sargent, Laboratory Research Assistant, Harvard Kennedy School Master in Public Policy student (‘24)

For centuries the West has been animated by a spirit of maximalism. Yet a different, more Eastern approach — optimalism — would usher in both “balance” and “harmony” into our well-being lexicon. These principles, if studied seriously, have a real possibility to heal a world beset by crises.

Dr. Timothy Lomas, Psychology Research Scientist, Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program

In America, the pursuit of happiness has evolved (at best) into a misguided sense of what happiness is, or has maladapted (at worst) into a pursuit that inadvertently makes us miserable. Guided by American history, we explore the arrival of this cultural moment, and then propose how to build a more meaningful ethos of national happiness.

Bryce Fuemmeler, Research Associate, Leadership & Happiness Laboratory

By drawing from lessons in history and modern social science, one thing is clear about leadership: The best leaders don’t command, they teach. Here’s how to become a better teacher — and by proxy, a better leader.

Reece Brown, Assistant Director, Leadership & Happiness Laboratory

In our world, it seems that confrontation has won the day. To rebuild a better culture, politicians can win support by instead acting with compassion.

Bryce Fuemmeler, Research Associate, Leadership & Happiness Laboratory