New reading in Positive Psychology

Speakers at the Applying the Science of Positive Psychology to Improve Society symposium at Claremont Graduate University are touting their new books.

Cameron, Kim (2008). Positive Leadership: Strategies for extraordinary performance. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. "Shows how to reach beyond ordinary success to achieve extraordinary effectiveness, spectacular results, and what Cameron calls 'positively deviant performance' — performance far above the norm. Citing a wide range of research in organizational development and psychology as well as real-world examples, Cameron shows that to go from successful to exceptional, leaders must learn how to create a profoundly positive environment in the workplace."

Diener, Ed (2009). Well-Being and Public Policy. Oxford Press. Presents the case for national measures of subjective well-being to be used for policy purposes. Available April 2009.

Diener, Ed and Robert Biswas-Diener (2008). Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth. Malden MA: Blackwell Publishing. This father and son team presents scientific evidence revealing that happiness is not overrated, and is good for people's health, social relationships, job success, longevity and altruism.

Dutton, Jane E. (2009). Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations: Building a theoretical and research foundation. Psychology Press. "The goal of this book is to forge new ground on identity research through cutting edge compilation of articles by leading identity scholars. Identities will be looked at the individual, dyadic, group and organizational levels. The goal is to stress the positive and have the authors concentrate on what is beneficial, valuable and good in some way." Available May 20.

Fredrickson, Barbara L. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking research reveals how to embrace the hidden strength of positive emotions, overcome negativity, and thrive. Crown Press. The author lays out 10 forms of positivity — joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love — and provides scientific evidence to illustrate her findings that maintaining a 3:1 positivity ratio of positive thoughts to negative emotions creates a tipping point between languishing and flourishing. The book includes compelling case studies, concrete tips, a Positivity Self Test and a tool kit for decreasing negativity and raising the positivity ratio. Available Tuesday, January 27.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja (2008). The How of Happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. London: Penguin Press. "Offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what happiness is, and isn't, and what can be done to bring us all closer to the happy life we envision for ourselves."

Rath, Tom and Barry Conchie (2008). Strengths Based Leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. New York: Gallup Press. Using data from Gallup's StrengthsFinder program, this new version provides specific strategies for leading with your top five strengths and enables you to plot the strengths of your team based on the four domains of leadership strength revealed in the book.

Recharge with these continuing education opportunities

Several colleagues and clients have asked about places to recharge, regroup and rejuvenate. Here's a list of continuing education opportunities for change agents, leaders, creatives and everyone coping with the complexities of life.

Systems Thinking Conference, Nov 17-19, 2008, Boston
Sponsored by Pegasus -- helping individuals, teams, and organizations thrive in an increasingly complex world.

NTL Institute provides management training programs that enhance listening skills, communication skills, diversity, organization development and group dynamics. In Alexandria, VA and Bethel, ME.

Shambhala Institute is a vibrant meeting-place of people, practices, and ideas engaged at the frontier of organizational and societal change. Upcoming workshop is Organizational Trust: Cultivating authenticity, commitment and collaboration, April 22–23, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario. Next summer institute is Authentic Leadership in Action, June 22–28, 2008 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Robert Fritz, composer, filmmaker and organizational consultant, helps people and organizations create the results that matter to them. Public workshops in Newfane, VT include Your life as art, Creating for creators, Fundamentals of Structural Thinking.

Cape Cod Institute is a summer-long series of timely/lively week-long courses for mental health and management professionals, offered by master teachers in Greenwich, CT.

Omega Institute is a pioneer in exploring, teaching, and embracing new ideas, focusing on health and wellness, personal spiritual growth, and self-awareness. Summer programs in Rhinebeck, NY. Winter programs in Costa Rica, Northern California and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Sol — Society for Organizational Learning. Founded by Peter Senge, SoL discovers (research), integrates (capacity development) and implements (practice) theories and practices of organizational learning for the interdependent development of people and their institutions and communities. In Boston.

Appreciative Inquiry is a revolutionary approach to strategic change and sustainable growth for organizations. The Commons, an online resource, lists public workshops, conferences and certification programs available world-wide.

Executive Education at Case Western in Cleveland, OH offers programs in Appreciative Inquiry and emotional intelligence.

Action Design helps individuals and groups in organizations develop their capability for inquiry, choice, and action on their most difficult issues. Public workshops in Boston.

Taos Institute is a community of scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value.

Interaction Associates offers workshops in facilitation, leadership, meeting management, change management, coaching, and trainer excellence. Public workshops are in San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Washington DC.

OD Network is a professional association of external consultants and professionals working within their organizations to promote healthy change. Next conference is Oct 19-22, 2008 in Austin, TX.

All of our continuing education bookmarks are at http://del.icio.us/unison/continuing-education.

Add to the list. Click on "Comments" below and add your favorite workshop, conference, "chill-out" retreat.

Greater Good

The latest issue of Greater Good magazine (Fall/Winter 2006-07) is now online at http://www.greatergoodmag.org! And for daily updates on the science of altruism and compassion, please also visit the new Greater Good blog at http://greatergoodscience.blogspot.com

The new issue of takes a provocative look at "the psychology of the bystander": What is it that induces some people to come to the aid of others in distress, while other people do nothing? Scientists have considered this question for years. Now Greater Good examines the fruits of their research and applies it to contemporary ethical issues concerning:

• Education — How can we teach kids to stick up for peers who are bullied, rather than remaining passive spectators?
• Journalism — When should reporters intervene in the stories they cover, and when should they not?
• War — What can we learn from stories of people who demonstrate great "civil courage," risking their lives to save others during wartime?
• Plus — An interview with Philip Gourevitch about why nations do or don't intervene in foreign conflicts.
• An essay by famed psychologist Philip Zimbardo — 35 years after his Stanford Prison Experiment revealed the banality of evil, Zimbardo and co-author Zeno Franco explore "The Banality of Heroism
• "Idea for the Greater Good" (pdf download) by best-selling author Daniel Goleman
• A photo essay a powerful piece from New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer Ted Jackson.

You can find these articles, as well as a form to subscribe to Greater Good, at http://www.greatergoodmag.org

Please feel free to forward this note to friends, associates, or your organizations' members. As we continue to expand the scope and readership of Greater Good, we rely on individuals and organizations like you to help spread the word about the magazine.

Compassion in the workplace survey

A grad student at the University of Michigan is conducting an Internet survey, and your help would be appreciated.  The survey addresses compassion in the workplace.  The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete, and we hope that you can do this within the next week. The survey is completely anonymous, and you can exit the survey at any time.  Although there are no risks or direct benefits to completing the survey, responses in the aggregate will provide important information about the effects of compassion in an organizational setting.

Here is the link to the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=172055279E67720

By completing the survey, you are acknowledging that you are at least 18 years old and are participating voluntarily. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us:

Michelle May
University of Michigan
Psychology Honors Student
917-862-8584
mmmay@umich.edu

Christopher Peterson
University of Michigan
Professor of Psychology
734-764-6567
chrispet@umich.edu

Should you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact the Institutional Review Board, 540 E. Liberty Street, Suite 202, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2210, (734) 936-0933, email: irbhsbs@umich.edu

If you were unable to complete the survey in the week after receiving this email and still would like to participate, please contact us.

Thanks for your participation,
Michelle May

Great expectations

No one believes their life will turn out "kind of OK." We all think we are going to be great.

And from the day we decide to be surgeons, we are filled with expectation.

Expectations of the trails we will blaze, the people we will help, the difference we will make. Great expectations of who we will be and where we will go.

And then we get there.

You've got to wonder, "Why do we cling to our expectations?"

Because the expected is just what keeps us steady, standing, still. The expected is just the beginning.

The unexpected is what changes our lives.

— Grey's Anatomy, Thu, Jan 25, 2007, Eric Buchman screenwriter

Courage of Iconoclasts

Comedian Dave Chappelle and poet Maya Angelou spend a day together at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where they discuss how poetry and comedy can bridge both genders and generations.

Courage is the most important of all the virtues, says Angelou, because without courage you can't practice any other virtues consistently. You see? You can't be consistently kind or fair or humane or generous, not without courage, because if you don't have it, sooner or later you will stop and say, "Eh, the threat is too much. The difficulty is too high. The challenge is too great."

On the Sundance Channel this month.

Free hugs campaign

Juan Mann is one man on a mission — brightening up life in Sydney by hugging strangers. His video landed on YouTube's index page and the story was picked up by ABC's Good Morning America. Music is by Sick Puppies, a Sydney band.

Read more in the Sydney Daily Herald.

Watch a follow-up story on YouTube.

To applaud or not? Why are we still asking this question?

Letting go of pretentiousness at classical music concerts has been an on-going story for over 30 years. It shouldn't be a surprise that we're still facing unexamined assumptions and habits. Or not clearly understanding the first-time buyer's experience and making the music more accessible. Culture change takes effort.

And yet we still label audience seating areas "Orchestra" when we've heard time and again the first-time buyer's confusion, "Am I really sitting with the orchestra?" Or "Second Tier" which is the third balcony in the hall.

Or "single tickets" when the first-time buyer asks, "Do I have to sit by myself?"

Or identifying composers and solosits by only their last name, as if everyone should know Plishnishkayanaka is a woman and the greatest living soprano east of the Mississippi.

Drew McManus is exploring and surveying this topic. He writes in The Partial Observer:

Among all of the contemporary forms of art, I've always felt classical music has the most potential for growth. Unfortunately, it has a nasty habit of getting in its own way by perpetuating decades old exclusive barriers.

At the same time, many classical music institutions are trying harder than ever before to consciously tear some of these barriers down. However, I find that some of these issues are so entrenched in the behavior and actions of long time classical music enthusiasts; they may not even realize they are unconsciously contributing to the problem.

Two recent events have brought this issue to the forefront in my mind.

Read Drew's article in The Partial Observer

The results are in. Check out the Applause & Pretentiousness Survey.

Read Leonard Slatkin's article "To Clap or Not to Clap?" in McManus' blog.

Getting to know creativity

Authentic Happiness Coaching newsletter begins a whirlwind tour of 24 character strengths—strengths such as wisdom, honesty, spirituality, kindness, gratitude, curiosity, and creativity. Each issue presents a digest version of Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman's handbook, Character Strengths and Virtues: A handbook and classification (2004).

According to Seligman, we can become lastingly happier by using our signature strengths more often and in new ways. Early support for this theory comes from a random-assignment study in which research participants were asked to use their signature strengths more often and in different ways. These participants were happier six months later; individuals who received a “control” exercise stayed the same.

When you or your clients want to exercise your creativity, try doing something first that you know will put you in a happy, relaxed mood. Avoid criticism (and this includes self-criticism!) and time-pressured situations when possible. Finally, recognize that creativity often requires work, work, and more work.

Read more about the creativity strength.

Find out your character strengths. Take the VIA Signature Strengths Questionaire.

Influencial positives

The Friends of Positive Psychology list serve is a-buzz today, determining the most influencial figures in the development of the field.

Thomas Aquinas (faith and reason)
Aristotle (purpose. cultivation of virtues)
Aaron Beck (cognitive therapy)
Sissela Bok (practical ethics)
Confucius (moral development)
Albert Ellis (rational emotive behavior therapy)
Victor Frankl (will to meaning)
Harry Harlow (contact comfort, expressions of familial love)
Marie Jahoda (feelings of well-being)
William James (psychology of religion)
Carl Jung (individuation)
Abraham Maslow (self-actualization
Carl Rogers (fully-functioning person)
Martin Seligman (learned optimism)
Michael Walzer (political theory within culture)

To join the list serve, click here to send an email.