The Realist Idealist

Seems so simple.

There are myriad psychological and sociological studies that more or less prove that smiling greatly increases the amount of time that someone wants to spend with you (or your brand) as well as how attractive they think you are (or your brand is). If someone is spending more time with you, they are also almost certainly listening to or engaging with you, and you thus have the opportunity to market, sell, influence or otherwise (insert something here) with them. Though the concept is all too often reserved for the “business sector” (quotes because, let’s be honest, everything is business), influencing and getting things done is incredibly important in the social/citizen/nonprofit sector as well. Maybe even more so as the work therein often has impact for people in need.

The whole idea is not rocket science (in fact, it’s social science), but somehow smiling is not thought of as a strategy very often, and I almost never hear of it being mandated outside restaurants (think Office Space and “flare”). Not saying we should mandate smiling, but what about just thinking about it? Creating intentionality around it? Reminding?

Particularly in the social sector, while the impetus to smile seems as though it would be higher, I would anecdotally say that it’s not. It might even be fair to say that in all too many instances people in the social sector are more jaded than outside it and their face is reflective of that. If nothing else it’s unfortunate, but beyond that it’s probably true that we could be better at making the world a bit better if we all did so with a smile.

Max Kalehoff wrote a great post today on Online Spin that examines this question in more depth - citing brands like JetBlue and Google as two that are clearly “smiling brands.” I know it’s something that we at Idealist are also cognizant of in all our design and marketing efforts.

Who are some other people or brands that are getting things done with a smile?

Do you smile?

Why do people smile or not smile in their work?

How can we encourage (without forcing) more people who are making good things happen to do so with a smile?