Dr David Cliff explores wellbeingand the risks of too much positivity.
Well-being has become one of the most familiar-and least examined-ideas in modern organisational life.
It appears everywhere: in strategy documents, leadership frameworks, and workplace initiatives. It is widely accepted as a marker of progressive thinking, a sign that organisations are taking people seriously.
But familiarity is not the same as understanding.
In focusing so heavily on well-being as something to be promoted, measured, and improved, we may be overlooking a more fundamental reality about human experience- one that is less comfortable, but ultimately more honest.
In my work across mental health and leadership, I have come to a simple conclusion: much of what we describe as stress or dissatisfaction is not purely psychological-it is existential.
This is not simply a philosophical observation. Increasingly, academic and clinical perspectives are beginning to recognise the importance of existential well-being-an approach that places meaning, identity, and purpose at the centre of how we understand people at work.
People are not only dealing with workloads and targets. They are grappling, often quietly, with deeper questions:
Does my work matter?
Am I using my abilities well?
What is all this for?
These are not problems to be solved once and for all. They are part of being human, and they do not disappear simply because organisations introduce well-being initiatives or resilience programmes.
This is where a subtle but important tension emerges.
In moving away from older, more clinical models of mental health, organisations may unintentionally create a different kind of pressure. Where once individuals were labelled as “unwell,” they may now feel expected to present as consistently positive, resilient, and engaged.
Well-being, in this context, becomes something to perform.
For those who are struggling, this can lead to a quieter form of withdrawal-where difficulties are managed privately rather than shared openly, for fear of appearing out of step with the prevailing culture.
This matters more than we might think.
Work is one of the few areas of life that brings together survival, identity, and purpose. When done well, it offers not just income, but a sense of contribution and engagement.
This is not limited to traditionally “vocational” roles. Whether someone is building, creating, managing, or supporting others, there is potential for deep absorption in what they do. Anyone who has been fully immersed in a task will recognise the satisfaction that comes from that focus-something that sits somewhere between meaning and relief.
Leaders cannot manufacture meaning for people. But they can create the conditions in which meaning becomes possible.
This includes:
ensuring work has clarity and coherence
aligning organisational values with everyday behaviour
allowing space for challenge and difficulty-not just success
avoiding cultures where positivity is expected at all times
It also requires a degree of honesty.
Life does not always resolve neatly. Careers are rarely linear. Organisations face uncertainty, and individuals experience setbacks. Pretending otherwise does not create resilience-it creates disconnection.
A more grounded approach to well-being recognises this reality. It allows for the possibility that people can be capable and struggling at the same time, and that not every difficulty leads to a clear or immediate resolution.
This is not a negative view. On the contrary, it is one that allows for genuine engagement and a more mature understanding of what it means to work and live well.
When individuals feel able to bring their full experience into their work-not just the polished version-they are more likely to connect with what they do, with others, and with the organisation itself.
Perhaps the next step in workplace well-being is not to increase positivity…
…but to deepen realism.
To recognise that meaning is not something imposed from above, but something that must be lived into-through action, relationship, and experience.
Gedanken offers seminars exploring existential awareness, leadership and organisational life.
For further information, contact us at www.gedanken.co.uk