Henry Stewart

Henry is founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Ltd, originally set up as Happy Computers in 1987. Inspired by Ricardo Semler’s book Maverick, he has built a company which has won multiple awards for some of the best customer service in the country and being one of the UK’s best places to work.

Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential management thinkers in the world. “He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business,” explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.

His first book, Relax, was published in 2009. His second book, The Happy Manifesto, was published in 2013 and was short-listed for Business Book of the Year. His latest book, Creating Joy at Work: 501+ ideas for a happy workplace was released in 2025 and is filled with ways that people around the world have implemented workplaces based on empowerment and working to strengths.

Impact Players: How to Have a Real Impact in Your Job

What makes the difference between somebody who is simply a contributor and somebody who makes a real difference? That is...

Henry Stewart

25 Apr 2022

Vivek Menon at Danfoss: Building a Teal Bubble in a Large Company

I am often asked whether you can build happy trust-based workplaces within a larger more hierarchical organisation. So I was...

Henry Stewart

13 Apr 2022

How Do You Help Your Interviewees Succeed?

Last year, Happy held our first recruitment for online facilitators. As we always do in our interviews, we avoid asking...

Henry Stewart

30 Mar 2022

Book Review: No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

For me the best business books include stories and No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed...

Henry Stewart

23 Mar 2022

Teach For All: A Global Self-Managing Organisation

Five years ago staff at Teach For All came together and proposed dismantling the senior team, changing the role of...

Henry Stewart

23 Feb 2022

Creating a Happy Workplace at Heart of Kent Hospice

Here are some ideas for creating a great culture from Sarah Pugh, now Chief Executive of Whizz Kidz, about her...

Henry Stewart

14 Sep 2021

How Helen Sanderson MBE Has Created People-Centric Workplaces

Helen Sanderson originally set up Wellbeing Teams in 2016 with the aim of radically changing the way health and social...

Henry Stewart

13 Jul 2021

Tom Peters: A Leadership Guru Ahead of His Time

Tom Peters is the ultimate management guru. Thinkers50, the list of the top 50 management thinkers, has rated him in...

Henry Stewart

29 Jun 2021

Jaipur Rugs: Art That You Can Walk On

Nand Kishore Chaudhary (known as NKC) has been called 'the Gandhi of the rug industry.' Jaipur Rugs, which he founded,...

Henry Stewart

16 Jun 2021