L&D 2020: Shaping change in learning
Brain & Mind
Positive psychology
In 2020, it is now more than twenty years since Martin Seligman1 popularised the term "positive psychology" and more than ten since Harvard Business Review identified it as a breakthrough idea2. The positive psychology approach has been incorporated as a core driver of organisational performance, engagement and well-being.
Positive psychology informs personal development programmes for people at all levels in many organisations. Its principles are being taught in schools to equip children with the psychological skills and capabilities to lead productive, happy lives. The science and research base that supports these approaches are now extensive and grounded, with a well-proven link to business performance. There is no longer any excuse for organisations to think positive psychology is "soft and fluffy".
The positive psychology approach turns on its head the previous notion of focusing development on personal weakness, poor performance and failure. Instead, it focuses more on what is right with people than what is wrong with them; what is working rather than what is failing. The key ideas organisations have adopted include those focusing on strengths3, psychological capital4 and the importance of positive emotions5.
Performance management meetings routinely spend 80 percent of the available time on what people do well (their strengths). Meetings discuss how to build strengths further to become truly excellent and identify ways people can use them more effectively to achieve the organisation's goals.
Weaknesses are not ignored, but the performance focus is on how people can use their strengths to manage their weaknesses. As roles change rapidly and job descriptions become quickly outdated, building capability around people's strengths and finding ways to use those strengths in new contexts is ever more important.
The positive states of mind leading to high organisational performance and fulfilled employees are now well understood ("psychological capital"), as are the supporting tools and techniques. Chief among these positive states are confidence, hope, resilience and optimism, which all have clear links to business performance. Managers in leading organisations are particularly focused on how to help people develop these positive states of mind.
For years, people have recognised that happy workers are more productive, but organisations now genuinely believe it and routinely spend time to improve how staff are feeling. Happy people take less sickness absence, deal with periods of change better and are more creative and productive. A key skill of managers and leaders is to manage the mental states of their teams so that staff feel both happy and productive. Again, this is not just "happy clappy"s, but grounded science that shows the real link to business performance.
1. http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx
2. Breakthrough ideas for 2007, Harvard Business Review
3. Now, discover your strengths (Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton, 2001).
4. Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge (Luthans, Youssef, Avolio, 2007)
5. Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. The Royal Society, 359, 1367-1377
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