feature POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
PSPOSITIVE
YCHOLOGY vibrations good
Positive psychology, according to its leading proponent Martin Seligman, is primarily concerned with well-being, and has five measurable
ingredients going under the mnemonic PERMA: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. The
importance of both to individuals and to organisational performance is one thing, but understanding the psychology behind them and how this affects every aspect of our perceptions; thinking, decision-making and behaviour, is perhaps less obvious, but is nevertheless key.
ARTICLE BY NEIL GRIFFITHS, CONSULTANT RESEARCHER & DIRECTOR - SONG PEOPLE, WITH CONTRIBUTION FROM DR. ANAT BARDI, READER - DEPT. PSYCHOLOGY - ROYAL HOLLOWAY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Positive psychology, transformational leadership and Organisational agility are inextricably intertwined. The importance both to individuals and to organisational performance is clearly defined and organisations need to understand the first if they are to develop the second, and without the second the third will deteriorate in the VUCA world, if the levels of Organisational agility essential to meeting the challenges of the ‘VUCA world’ are to be achieved. We are all more productive when we experience positive emotions such as; pride, excitement and satisfaction. When we are fully engaged we experience ‘flow’, enabling us to align ourselves fully in overcoming the challenges we face. As social beings, the quality of our relationships with those around us has a tremendous effect
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on how we work. Meaning, being able to connect with a purpose greater than ourselves, is essential if we are to work effectively in collaborative endeavour toward shared goals. Plus accomplishments help give us the confidence that our endeavours are not in vane; so helping us to keep going. We are programmed to feel good when we satisfy our needs and bad when we don’t. In this way our emotions motivate us to satisfy our needs. The father of positive psychology Abraham Maslow made explicit the link between needs and values, by associating values such as; safety, reputation and justice with different levels of his hierarchy of needs; acknowledging that in order to satisfy our individual needs we must value some things
more than others. If Biff is confident of her abilities and unconcerned about how colleagues rate her, but Chip isn’t, Chip will likely place a higher value on opportunities to prove himself and boost his peer ratings, and, if Biff and Chip are in competition, may even value opportunities to undermine Biff. This will affect where Chip looks for opportunities, how he perceives the information coming his way, the strategies he develops, how he considers the impact of these on others, the decisions he makes and how he behaves when following these through. We each steer ourselves through the maze of life by consciously and unconsciously weighing up the information coming our way and plotting our course based on the
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