Journal

For a recent talk to the RIBA Incubator Group, I looked back at the evolution of Bell Phillips over 20 years; how and why we grew, our stages of growth, how our structure changed and what processes we implemented.

Discussing this with Jon Lopez of OMMX  he asked a pertinent question;

“When were you happiest?”

This gave me cause for reflection. There isn’t a simple answer.

During the early years, for example, the excitement of building a fledgling studio was tempered to an extent by the challenges of early stage practice - eking out projects, our cold studio space, our knife-edge finances. My happiest period was around 2016, when we’d built up a portfolio of great projects, celebrated our first decade with a book, exhibition and party, established a strong team and moved into a new office. It was a moment that felt like we had transitioned from a cottage industry to a proper grown-up business. A moment that gave me immense pride. On the other hand the unhappiest times were invariably associated with financial pressure, or when the stress of work impacted on my personal life.

So I created my Happiness Index overlay.

My happiness went hand-in-hand with;

• Working on stimulating, complex projects
• Having a close-knit, cohesive team
• Having pride in my work
• Being busy
• Feeling a sense of purpose, progress and forward momentum

Jonathan Hagos of Freehaus made another observation. He pointed out that this is MY happiness index, which doesn’t necessarily correspond with other team members or the studio as a collective. It’s another great point. In retrospect it’s a conversation that we should have opened up - what makes us individually and collectively happy - and a metric that we could have assessed.

So where are you on the Happiness Index?

What makes you happy, individually and collectively?

And are you discussing it, or measuring it?