positive psychology in application

Positive Psychology in Application

Sukhvinder Pabial

An Introduction toPositive Psychology

A Pecha Kucha presentation

Pecha Kucha

• Insight into Positive Psychology• Give basis for some discussion later

Sukh Pabial

• Learning and Development professional of ten years

• Use a range of tools and techniques• Growing appreciation of Positive Psychology

and using it at work and in personal life

My history with Psychology

• Studied at ‘A’ Level• Then at under-graduate• Post-graduate in Occupational Psychology• Personal reading into the field

Martin Seligman

• Started this field of thought more than ten years ago

• Psychotherapist• Suffers bi-polar depression• Helped many clients suffering mental illness

Traditional Therapy

• Helping people diagnosed with mental illness• Moving them from -5 to 0• Giving them interventions to deal with their

illness

State of Vibrancy

• Don’t focus enough on strengths and things going well in our lives

• Intended for everyone, not just those with illnesses

• Move from 0 to +5

Positive Thinking

• Difficult not to confuse the two• This is just about a mindset you have• E.G. ‘bad commute into work’ > ‘at least I got

to read my book’

Positive Psychology

• Concerned with the study of behaviours that help create lasting effects of feeling positive

• ‘Authentic Happiness’

Positive Living

• Look at different activities we get involved with on day to day basis

• Seligman identifies three ways we can lead positive lives

• Not doing activities that are harmful

Emotions

• Instant gratification• E.G. Enjoy food, have a good meal; enjoy

exercise, go for a run

Flow

• Where we learn how to mix different aspects of life

• Enjoyment created with work, family, friends

Meaning

• Start to move beyond the today• Doing things that create better interactions• Identifying signature strengths• Helping others through community/society

It’s about the mix

• It’s about how you find the blend of all three which is important

• Doing them in isolation will feel fragmented and incongruous

Positive Language

• Important part of interactions we have• Using ‘and’ in place of ‘but’

Conversations

• Core to the way we interact with others• Positive Psychology is all about encouraging

better conversations

Your Third Place

• Work and Home are your first and second place you occupy

• Your third place is where you can be your best self free of judgement and pressure

Your Third Place cont’d

• Can be any form of activity – reading, exercise, writing, physical

• Where you can play to your inner strength and feel great

#3GoodThings

• Daily task done at the end of the day• Take the time to reflect on what’s been

important for you that day

#3GoodThings cont’d

• The challenge is to think about what was important that day

• And to remember to do it daily

Summary

• Brief history and insight into key techniques from Positive Psychology

• Things to remember:– Positive Thinking different to Positive Psychology– Have better conversations– Third place– #3GoodThings

Q&A

Open Space

• What was important from that pecha kucha for you?

• What does it start to unlock for you and get you thinking about?

• Write on the flipchart anything you think you want to capture

Positive Psychology Interventions

The Gratitude Visit

• One of the most powerful interventions in Positive Pscyhology

• Hardest part is to think about one person who made a positive different in your life

• Articulate and write it down• Feelings of positivity months after the fact for

both parties

Signature Strengths

• Once you identify it, becomes your defining feature

• You use the strength in the work you do, the way you live and the way you are

Positive Institutions

“Understanding positive institutions entails the study of meaning and purpose as well as the strengths that foster better communities, such as justice, responsibility, civility, parenting, nurturance, work ethic, leadership, teamwork, purpose, and tolerance.”

http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/

Positive Institutions

• Your home• Your friends• Your education• Your work• Your community• Your society• Your ethics

Positive Deviance

“Positive Deviance is based on the observation that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviours and strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their peers, while having access to the same resources and facing similar or worse challenges.”

http://www.positivedeviance.org/

Positive Deviance

• For finding behavioural solutions not technical solutions

• Trusting the people to find a way that works for them

• They’re the ones who live and breathe it• It must create sustainable action• Responsibility for success is with everyone

Positive Energy Networks

• Those who create natural energy• They do all the good things just by being in

tune with their surroundings• The kind of person who naturally draws others

to them

High Quality Connections

• Recognising that we all have moments to make a difference to others

• Making things happen for other people just by the virtue of being you

• An experience that makes a difference to you no matter how small or significant the act

Bad Things Happen

• Sad fact of life• Can’t always ‘positively think your way out of

it’• Accept and get back on track later

Social Connectivity

• Giving people ways to connect• Work parties, etc, are good fun but not for

everyone• A place for the inner geek to be unleashed and

indulged with others

Stop, Reflection Time

• What are you thinking about?• Which intervention(s) so far resonates with

you?• What are you motivated to do?

Turning theory into practise

Appreciative Inquiry

• Focuses on the strength of actions and outcomes

• Gets people to consider a complete lifecycle of an event and have robust discussion

• Outcome is to create automatic buy-in from the people involved

Health and Well-being

• Natural domino effect• Focus on one part of life influences other

areas too

Employee Engagement

• Using techniques such as AI or Open Space• Not just about being consultative• Creates true discussion and engagement• Power of the voice is with the people

Innovation

• Good ideas can come from anywhere• Internal communities of practise• Social clubs• Collaborative atmosphere

Redundancies

• ‘Bad Things Happen’• Opportunities for engagement despite the

reality• Not just “Here’s an outreach programme”• Internal groups for collective thought/support• Informal mentoring/coaching from those left

in the business about what’s next

Company Processes

• As companies grow and become larger, process becomes core part of efficiency

• Efficiency starts to equal process• We create efficiencies that neglect the human

touch – we factor out the human touch

Open Space part 2

• What has been interesting to learn about?• What are you thinking you can do differently?• What burning desire (if any) is rushing through

your body?• Same process as before

Is the grass greener?

• All or none of these may work for you• They are very adaptable, and you have to find

what works for you• Not everyone will be responsive to these

interventions

What do the experts say?

• Sarah Lewis• Henry Stewart (Happy Ltd)• Tony Hsieh (Zappos)• Ricardo Semler (Semco)

Positive Life

• Ultimately it’s about creating greater sense of fulfilment and engagement in your life

• That’s always a continuing journey• This is only to raise awareness

Good luck!

Sukhvinder Pabialspabial@sky.com

@sukhpabial