Yeah, I like this quote, but I don’t think of it as ‘happiness’ so much as ‘integrity’. Definitely a value that I personally strive for, and I feel like it complements nicely two of my company’s stated values of Respect and Candor. I like to paraphrase this as “don’t say something behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t also say to their face, but also candor compels you to say something”. A related concept is often identified as “confirmation bias” but I think of as “you find what you look for” and some of my early management training coded that as “look for what you like.” I like two things about that: 1 is that it leverages confirmation bias towards the positive, and the other is it reminds you to pay attention to your interlocutor. Too often, we’re in our own head whether it’s how to frame a response, or the slack ping we just got, or the looming deadline. But what a gift to give the person your attention and to focus the interaction positively by looking for what you like!
