“Nic Marks has long championed the radical idea that happiness is a metric worth measuring. This book shows it’s even more than that – it’s the secret sauce behind every thriving team”
Chris Anderson, Head of TED
Nic is one of the most original and inspiring voices in today’s vital debate about well-being and happiness. He has that rare gift of communicating both engagingly and with authority.
About Nic
Nic Marks is a statistician, speaker and author who pioneered the field of workplace wellbeing. He read Mathematics at Cambridge before training in organisational change and psychotherapy. He went on to found the Centre for Wellbeing at the New Economics Foundation, where he created influential frameworks including the Happy Planet Index and the Five Ways to Wellbeing.
A sought-after international speaker, his TED talk has been viewed millions of times, and his TEDBook A Happiness Manifesto helped put measuring national wellbeing on the global agenda. Today, as founder of Friday Pulse, he helps organisations measure and improve team happiness through science-led feedback.
His new book, Happiness is a Serious Business, shows why happy teams perform better—and how leaders can create the conditions for people and organisations to thrive.
Nic’s keynote ‘Happiness is a Serious Business’ was compelling. His evidence-based approach shows why happiness is critical to organisational success — breaking through even sceptical mindsets. Weeks later, the buzz hasn’t dissipated.
Some highlights from my career
Happiness is a Serious Business
My first full length book is published by ReThink Press. It took me three years to write but feels so worth the effort.
Friday Pulse
In 2012 Rich Aston and I founded a business to understand, track and build team happiness. It is now known as Friday Pulse and has hundreds of clients.
National Accounts of Wellbeing
A study of wellbeing across 23 European countries. Nobel prize-winner Daniel Kahneman called it “state of the art wellbeing measurement”. One highlight was working with the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on its Gross National Happiness.
5 Ways to Wellbeing
A 2008 project with Jody Aked for the UK’s Government Office for Science. They wanted the equivalent of five fruits and vegetables... for wellbeing. Our findings were picked up globally by public health authorities (now it’s a foundational reference).
The Happy Planet Index (HPI)
Answering that question led to the HPI, a metric that continues to show that good lives don't have to cost the earth. Using this I consulted various governments on how to think about wellbeing. I presented the findings at TED in 2010.
A nagging feeling and a new question
Walking with Monty I saw a power station from the top of a green hill overlooking the Thames. An equation struck me: **Could society divide its modern lifestyle and wellbeing by its environmental cost?** Could I calculate this efficiency, statistically?
A Wellbeing Manifesto
Joining *The New Economics Foundation*, I built a team and for the next 12 years we explored an idea in the spirit of Max-Neef: **what would policy look like if people's wellbeing was its aim?** The science of happiness was just emerging.
Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare
Between the London School of Economics' basement and Tim Jackson's tiny office near Smithfield's meat market, we worked on my first big question: how can we create a language to talk about what a sustainable future looks like?
Psychotherapy
Unsure of my next move, my interest in people led me to follow my mother's lead to become a trained therapist. Mixing psychology with economic statistics excited me. I was ready to get back into the numbers.
Summer of ‘89
After I quit the firm, my father (anxious for my future!) took me to see Chilean Ecological Economist, Manfred Max-Neef. Manfred thrills me with the idea that most people don't ask big enough questions. Cue a lifelong mentorship.
I studied Mathematics and Decision Making at Cambridge
However upon leaving university I immediately made a poor decision: joining an American management consultancy—just because I was told it was hard to get.
A feeling for numbers
An early memory was my fascination with powers of two. Counting with my father 2, 4, 8… 128… 16,384… trying to get one further each week.
Happiness is a Serious Business
My first full length book is published by ReThink Press. It took me three years to write but feels so worth the effort.
National Accounts of Wellbeing
A study of wellbeing across 23 European countries. Nobel prize-winner Daniel Kahneman called it “state of the art wellbeing measurement”. One highlight was working with the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on its Gross National Happiness.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI)
Answering that question led to the HPI, a metric that continues to show that good lives don't have to cost the earth. Using this I consulted various governments on how to think about wellbeing. I presented the findings at TED in 2010.
A Wellbeing Manifesto
Joining *The New Economics Foundation*, I built a team and for the next 12 years we explored an idea in the spirit of Max-Neef: **what would policy look like if people's wellbeing was its aim?** The science of happiness was just emerging.
Psychotherapy
Unsure of my next move, my interest in people led me to follow my mother's lead to become a trained therapist. Mixing psychology with economic statistics excited me. I was ready to get back into the numbers.
I studied Mathematics and Decision Making at Cambridge
However upon leaving university I immediately made a poor decision: joining an American management consultancy—just because I was told it was hard to get.
Friday Pulse
In 2012 Rich Aston and I founded a business to understand, track and build team happiness. It is now known as Friday Pulse and has hundreds of clients.
5 Ways to Wellbeing
A 2008 project with Jody Aked for the UK’s Government Office for Science. They wanted the equivalent of five fruits and vegetables... for wellbeing. Our findings were picked up globally by public health authorities (now it’s a foundational reference).
A nagging feeling and a new question
Walking with Monty I saw a power station from the top of a green hill overlooking the Thames. An equation struck me: **Could society divide its modern lifestyle and wellbeing by its environmental cost?** Could I calculate this efficiency, statistically?
Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare
Between the London School of Economics' basement and Tim Jackson's tiny office near Smithfield's meat market, we worked on my first big question: how can we create a language to talk about what a sustainable future looks like?
Summer of ‘89
After I quit the firm, my father (anxious for my future!) took me to see Chilean Ecological Economist, Manfred Max-Neef. Manfred thrills me with the idea that most people don't ask big enough questions. Cue a lifelong mentorship.
A feeling for numbers
An early memory was my fascination with powers of two. Counting with my father 2, 4, 8… 128… 16,384… trying to get one further each week.