The Power of Positive

1. The Power of Positive Introduction to Positive Psychology And its Potential Power September 2010

2. Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right! Henry Ford

3. We’re going to Accentuate the Positive • Who am I? • Charles Sutton, Senior Partner, Organizational Edge • Organizational Psychology Consultancy • Consultancy solutions, coaching for success, research and insight and human potential • Positive Psychology or Positive Thinking • What is Positive Psychology • Some basic factors • Easterbrook Paradox • Negativity • Positive Emotion • Adult Hope Scale (an opportunity) • Accentuate Positive Power • Signature Strength • Postpone the Worry • Use a Solution Focused Approach • Hope springs eternal

4. Positive Thinking and Positive Psychology ‘The Secret’ Published 2006 Rhonda Byrne A Gulf of Difference ‘Learned Optimism’ Published 1991 ‘Positive Psychology’ Introduced 1999 Martin Seligman

5. Positive Psychology Concerned with 'optimal human functioning' - it is about studying and understanding people at their best. Researched and empirically based Intellectual credibility, theoretical basis and recognised scholars Understanding and exploring Individual support and institutional change Positive Thinking Popular movement, oversold and about realising your dreams, changing your life Individual stories, based on ‘amazing journeys’ Lacks intellectual credibility or coherence, premise is that you get what you want by using your mind Telling Self help and personal development The Differences!

6. What is Positive Psychology? • Positive Psychology is the study of optimal human functioning • An attempt to respond to the systematic bias inherent in psychology's historical emphasis on mental illness rather than on mental wellness • Psychological research delivered approximately 136,000 studies on depression, anger and anxiety; and 10,000 on life satisfaction, happiness and joy over a thirty year period. • Positive psychology provides firm scientific foundation for the study of human happiness, human flourishing and optimal function

7. Some basic factors • Easterbrook Paradox • Negativity • Positive Emotion

8. The Easterbrook Paradox Gregg Easterbrook ‘The Progress Paradox’ • How come as life gets better, people feel worse? • Western society – enhanced income and lifestyle yet high levels of depression and no measurable changes in happiness The Negative Brain • Research indicates the mind is hardwired to be negative and pessimistic – for survival purposes • Quick to respond to threat, so develop an attentional system that prioritises negative aspects of environment • Sidestep the natural negativity • Evolutionary perspective is that ‘things’ valued by Western society were not valued over millions of years of development

9. Negativity • Losing money, being abandoned by friends and receiving criticism makes more of an impact than, Winning money, gaining friend and receiving praise (Baumeister, 2001) • When equal the negative trumps positive • There seems to be an ideal ratio of positive to negative 3:1 for human flourishing (Fredrickson, 2005)

10. Positive Emotion • Positive affect - positive emotions, positive moods and positive attitudes – may in fact be the single most important active ingredient in the recipe for human flourishing (Barbara Fredrickson, 2005) • Undo the negative effects of stress • Broaden thought action repertoire • Positive emotions build up resilience

11. The Adult Hope Scale Would you like to measure your future motivational state? (There’s no need to share your score!!)

12. Accentuate Positive Power • Signature Strength • Postpone the Worry • Use a Solution Focused Approach

13. Your Signature Strength I do not believe that you should devote overly much effort to correcting your weaknesses. Rather, I believe that the highest success in living and the deepest emotional satisfaction comes from building and using your signature strengths. Martin Seligman, 2002 • Values in Action (VIA) - behaviours are linked to our values • Identify what you believe your strengths to be (individual or team) • Test their significance: • Sense of ownership (“This is the real me/us”) • Feeling of excitement whilst displaying strength • Rapid learning curve as the strength is first practiced • Continuous learning of new ways to enact the strength • Feeling of inevitability in using the strength (“Try and stop me”) • Invigoration rather than exhaustion while using the strength • The creation and pursuit of personal/team projects that revolve round it • Expectation of success from using strength • Name your signature strength • Use your signature strength to benefit others

14. Postpone the Worry “Do not think about blue sheep” • What we want to forget we think about more often • Considerable effort required to move thoughts from conscious to unconscious part of the mind • Solution is not to suppress but to fix a time in the future to deal with a worry • You take control and reduce the negative impact of the worry • Individual and team action ‘Stimulus control application to the treatment of worry’ Borokovec

15. Solution Focused Approach • Applicable to many situations requiring change, both individual and group • Change and development is achieved by people drawing on their individual and collective resources • Solution focused approach includes the following ingredients • Creating a language for change • Positive exceptions – identify the exceptions as this reduces the power of a problem • Scaling – on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst that could happen, where are you now • Goal setting – achievement of future goals is shaped by memory of past goals. Therefore need to reframe future goals on basis of success and capacity to achieve • Resource building – engage in positive feedback to reinforce strengths and positive emotions

16. The Adult Hope Scale

17. Scoring the Adult Hope Scale • Select items 2, 9, 10 and 12. Add the scores and write the total into the line entitled Score One (Agency) • Select items 1, 4, 6 and 8. Add the scores and write the total into the line entitled Score Two (Pathway) • Add the two numbers in Score One and Score Two, and write into the line entitled Score Three (Hope)

18. Hope - The Results • 0 – 35 Level One • 36 – 53 Level Two • 54 – 64 Level Three

19. The Meaning of your Score • Agency Subscale • Goal directed energy • Capacity to start, act and sustain action • Willpower • Pathway Subscale • Planning to meet goals • Ability to generate ways to achieve goals • Waypower • Hope Scale • Positive motivational state on an interactively derived sense on successful agency and pathways

20. Organizational Edgethe psychological advantage Consultancy Solutions Coaching for Success Research and Insight Enabling Human Potential Charles Sutton charles.sutton@org-edge.com +44 (0)7785 912 663 Sally Norris sally.norris@org-edge.com +44 (0)7795 435777 Organizational Edge: +44 (0)20 7435 7044 oemail@org-edge.com www.organizational-edge.com 20