How to Be a Happy Academic

Alex Clark, PhD, is Associate Vice President (Research) at the University of Alberta, and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. He fulfils leadership roles with a number of national research funding bodies across Canada. He regularly writes on academic career development, growth, and leadership, and has led workshops all over the world for a decade for researchers from all career stages on academic effectiveness, writing, and research skills. He speaks nationally and internationally to young scientists from across disciplines on academic career issues, including skills, teamwork, and mentorship. Alex's research has been published in some of the world's most influential journals, including: The Lancet, British Medical Journal, Journal of American College of Cardiology, and Social Science & Medicine. Bailey Sousa, PMP, is the Director of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology (IIQM) based at the University of Alberta, an entrepreneur, and workplace effectiveness advocate. Bailey has worked as a team leader managing complex projects for over a decade in a variety of entrepreneurial ventures and roles in corporate, social enterprise, and academic settings. Her current role enables her to connect and connect with academics internationally, giving her a global perspective on effectiveness and the challenges faced universally. Bailey's interests and contributions relate to workplace and academic effectiveness, leadership, and teamwork in complex settings; she facilitates workshops all over the word in this area. In 2015, she was also recognized as one of Edmonton's Avenue Magazine's 'Top 40 Under 40' for her contributions in her work and to her city.

Introduction Why is this Book Needed Get the Most from this Book Doing the Right Things Right: The Success Pyramid and The Core Language and Terminology Issues Theoretical Basis and Features Chapter 1: Academic Knowledge Work as Extreme Knowledge Work What is Academic Knowledge Work? The Nature of Academic Knowledge Work The Challenge of 'Extreme Knowledge Work' for Academic Workers Section One: Choosing the Right Academic Work: The Success Pyramid Chapter 2: Values in Academic Work Values and Identity in Academic Work and Workers Exploring Your Values Values and Integrity Reactions to Value Conflicts in Academic Workplaces First Steps to Workable Strain: Increase Your Values Literacy Chapter 3: Success and Its Indicators What Success Looks Like in Academic Work Success Is Not Equal (Especially Around Gender) Success Is About Work and Life Success and Quality Are Different Is Success Subjective or Objective? Approaching Success in Academic Knowledge Work: Occluded Games and Genres Success Indicators and The Success Pyramid Success Indicators over Academic Careers Challenges in Selecting Success Indicators Chapter 4: Doing the Right Things I: Effectiveness, Priorities, and Strategy Priorities: The Key to Effectiveness What Is Strategy? Common Challenges with Good Strategy Chapter 5: Doing the Right Things II: Goals, Tasks and Time Time in Academic Work Goals in Academic Work Common Challenges when Goal Setting Tasks in Academic Work Handling Tasks Common Challenges with Tasks Section Two: Developing The Core Chapter 6: Creativity: Adding the Vital Spark Being and Staying Creative or 'The Battle for Creativity' Threats to Creativity Chapter 7: Human Work and Self-Work The Scope and Nature of Human Work What Affects Human Work? Human Work Done Well: First Steps Relationships in Academic Work Building Relational Networks Feedback Teams and Working Groups Conflict Human Work, Self-Work: A Journey Without End Chapter 8: Learning: Success, Failure and the Growth Mindset Mindsets in Academic Work Learning for Growing: What and Why Failure: Necessary and Useful Successful Failure: A Six-Step Approach Chapter 9: Influence: Persuasion and Connection Rhetoric: The Basis for Better Influence Invention: Arguments, audience, and success Arrangement, style, and delivery: Connection and identification Memory: Practised, effortless spontaneity Above all: Be self-aware, but be yourself Chapter 10: Write Anything Better The Vulnerability of Writing in Academic Work Different Types of Writing in Academic Work The Quality-Prevalence Paradox of Academic Writing The Limitations of Trick, Tips and Social Media Genre: A Different Approach to Academic Writing Chapter 11: Developing Better Habits and Systems Everyday Tasks: Marginal and Fundamental Gains Taming Everyday Tasks Other Systems, Routines, and Habits Section Three: Bringing It All Together Chapter 12: Projections, Introspections, and Reflections on Academic Work Thinking Forward: The Future of Academic Work Thinking Inwardly: Reading Your Own Reactions Thinking On: What We Learned Writing this Book

The authors not only illuminate the realities of academic work, but also provide brilliant wisdom for keeping one's pilot light of passion constantly ignited, despite the challenges. This book is an excellent resource for doctoral students; it provides an inspirational process for success! -- Lori Pollard Drawing on influential, contemporary thinkers, this work explores the fears, compromise and intrinsic drive that underpin a scholarly career. It delivers a blue-print for career success and personal sustainability that places one's own values at the core of academic practice. I couldn't put it down! -- Janice Gullick In a postsecondary climate of stress, disillusionment, and faculty burn out, this book shines light on the possibilities for value and meaning in our work - it is very welcome and long overdue. -- Nicola Simmons Does what it says on the tin. The authors aid the reader in exploring and reflecting personally on the quagmire that is academia both explicitly and succinctly in a highly engaging manner. Reading this text could seriously enhance your personal and professional well-being! -- Di Turgoose It's always hard to distill general lessons on how one should approach academic life that can be applicable to different areas of scholarship. In this excellent book. Alexander Clark and Bailey Sousa do a superb job of finding those key lessons we can apply to be happy and reasonably balanced scholars. -- Raul Pacheco-Vega Similar to most self-help books, How to be a Happy Academic offers its target readers a training manual on self-empowerment. In particular, it provides an insider perspective on seeing, doing and - most importantly - taming academic work. -- Eddy Li * LSE Review of Books * As a super fan of post it notes, the cover of How to be a Happy academic made me, well - happy (well played cover designer!). The slightly unconventional vibe of the book's title is reflected in the rest of the layout, which is cleverly designed to reward the quick flick through. Key messages are printed in huge type throughout, sometimes taking up half a page so that the physical book kind of screams affirmations at you. The layout also helps you find key sections really easily... Instead of giving you 'tips and tricks', How to be a Happy Academic encourages you to first define what success looks like for you - and work backwards from there. -- The Thesis Whisperer