Post on 11-Apr-2017
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Emma Bridger
The Science of Well-being(Happiness) in the workplace
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Have you ever wondered why?
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Focus on the (positive) psychology of engagement
The current paradigm:
Work harder
More Success
Win/ happier
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This formula is scientifically broken Every time we have a success the goalposts change. We reach our sales targets, we get set higher targets So we’re continually pushing happiness over our cognitive horizon And in fact…. The opposite is true – positive brains perform significantly better than negative, neutral or stressed brains So if we focus on creating happy, positive brains we are more successful Research shows increases in intelligence, creativity and energy This translates into business outcomes
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Positive thinkingLyobomirsky 2005 found:
31% increase in productivityImproved resilienceLess burnoutLess employee turnoverIncreased sales 37%When your brain is in a positive state it performs better then in a neutral, negative or stressed state
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Why is this?The formula is the wrong way round
Being in a positive brain state releases DopamineThis makes you feel happierBut it also turns on all your learning centers in your brain
Work harder
More Success
Happier positive
state
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Creating a positive lasting changeYou can rewire your brain by doing the following everyday for 21 days:
• 3 gratitudes each day• Journaling• Exercise• Meditation• Random acts of kindness
This will help train your brain to scan for the positive, rather than the negative
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https://youtu.be/1qJvS8v0TTI
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Positive Emotion
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Peak Experience• Think about a time when you loved doing what you were doing –
either at work or in your personal life• In pairs take 5 minutes each to tell your partner about this time
• What was happening• How did it feel? • What made it possible?• Why was it such an amazing time for you?• What did you learn?
• Then swap• Listen carefully to your partners story• Then in groups talk about the themes emerging
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Your PlaylistMichael Frisch suggests creating a ‘playlist’ of activities which make us feel good, are likely to stimulate positive emotions, which we enjoy, which interest us, which make us happy…such as:
• Reading a book• Watching a funny film • Seeing the sunrise• Going for a walk• Going to a gig• Hanging out with friends etc.
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Engagement
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Mindfulness“Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD, “Wherever you go, there you are”, 1994
With curiosityWithout engagement or attachmentWhile being kind to yourself
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Positive Relationships
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Christopher Peterson PhDA three word summary of positive psychology
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How You Respond Affects Relationships
ActiveDestructiv
e
ActiveConstructi
ve
PassiveDestructiv
e
PassiveConstructi
ve
Activ
ePa
ssive
Destructive Constructive
Resp
onse
Attitude
Interest & engagementSupportive, encouraging
No interest or engagementSupportive, encouraging
No interest or engagementUnsupportive, discouraging
Interest & engagementUnsupportive, discouraging
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Meaning & Purpose
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Posting brown boxes or making dreams come true?
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What is your purpose in life?Imagine fast forwarding into your old age… how would you answer the following questions?:• How and for what do I want to be remembered?• Who do I want to be remembered by?• Which of my accomplishments and strengths do I want others to
talk about?• When I look back am I am satisfied with my life?• Am I living my life is such a way now that this will be achieved?
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Achievement
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Please answer these questions about intelligence. Read each statement and decide whether you mostly agree with it or disagree with it. 1) Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't
change very much.2) You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent
you are.3) No mater how much intelligence you have, you can always change it
quite a bit.4) You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.
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Winston Churchill - Prime Minister
Repeated a year during primary
school
He was placed in the lowest division of the lowest class
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Beethoven - Composer Beethoven’s teacher
called him a HOPELESS composer
He wrote 5 of his greatest symphonies
while deaf
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The list goes on…..•…Einstein's teacher said that he was ‘academically subnormal’
•…Walt Disney was told that he lacked ‘creative imagination’
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MindsetsFixed Mindset
intelligence is a fixed trait
Growth Mindset
intelligence is a malleable quality, a potential that can be
developed
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Study: Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance; Muller & Dweck 1998
Intelligence Praise
“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must have tried
really hard.”
Effort Praise
“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must be smart at
this.”
Control Group “Wow, that’s a really good score.”
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Effects of Intelligence vs. Effort PraiseGrowth Mindset
Learning
HighHigh
Increased
Fixed Mindset
Looking Smart
LowLow
Decreased
Goals
ConfidenceMotivation
Performance
Afterdifficult
trial
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Results from Intelligence praise
Performance on 2nd set• “I’m not good enough”• Reported a steep decline in fun • When asked if they would like to
take the games home to play with family, their future likelihood to play the game again declined significantly
Performance on 3rd set• They chose the next problem
based on designing not to fail (vs. learning)
• They chose their reading based on how they compared to others (vs. learning new strategies)
• Telling others how they did- 40% lied!!
2nd deliberately harder, told scored 5/10 and performed “a lot worse” 3rd same difficulty as 1st set
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Results from Process Praise
Performance on 2nd set• “I didn’t work hard enough”• They had the same amount of fun
as 1st set• Their likelihood to play again was
same as 1st set
Performance on 3rd set• They chose their next problem
designed on learning more• Their choice of reading was
based on learning new strategies• Telling others how they did- only
1.3% lied
2nd deliberately harder, told scored 5/10 and performed “a lot worse” 3rd same difficulty as 1st set
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# of problems solved on the IQ test Trial 1 (before failure) and Trial 3 (after failure)
4.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
Trial 1 Trial 3
Effort PraiseControl PraiseIntelligence Praise
# o
f Pro
blem
s So
lved
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“I can’t do that... yet.”Mindset, in summary….
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For more information contact: Emma Bridgeremma@peoplelab.co.uk 07715 644 566@miss_commslab