This article on yesterday’s Positive Psychology News Daily looks at some of the issues in applying character strengths (specifically VIA-IS) in a practical way in everyday life.

You’ll be interested to hear that the British government is now tracking the well-being of its citizens annually along with other social, economic and environmental indices. For further information see this DEFRA press release, and for a concise summary, see this excellent post on Positive Psychology News Daily by my MAPP colleague, Rosie Milner.

Have you ever thought that emotion has no place in the world of business? Well here’s some research that might cause you to stop and think. Do you want to see quickly and easily how positive or negative emotion impacts your current thinking style?

Take a look at these four groups of shapes – for each one do you think pattern A is more like B or C?

According to Barbara Fredrickson’s “broaden and build” theory, in this visual processing task people in positive moods are more likely to choose B (global) every time. Fredrickson and Branigan’s research* shows that positive moods facilitate more creative, flexible, big-picture thinking, in which positive people remain open to new information. As a result, the number of behavioural options open to them increases.

People in negative moods, on the other hand, are more focused on the detail of a situation, have a more rigid thinking style in which their thought-action repertoire is narrowed. These people are more likely to say pattern A is like C (local).

The good news is that while a positive emotional state is only momentary, there is evidence to suggest that the effect is cumulative, thus you can increase your flexibility and resourcefulness over time.

It’s crucial for workplace success to remain as flexible and open to new ideas as possible, so the broaden and build theory has serious implications for business. Specifically you may want to consider how you can foster positive emotions before and during brainstorming sessions, when you want to create as many innovative ideas as possible. In problem-solving situations too, consider what action you can take to sustain a positive frame of mind while you’re generating new solutions.

Next time you’re in one of these business situations, notice the impact your mood has on your thinking style. In coaching we’ve noticed that clients who maintain a positive outlook are far more likely to generate ideas than those who allow a negative mood to dominate. Try it for yourself, and let us know how you get on.

* Fredrickson, B.L., & Branigan, C. (2005) “Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires”

This is our final post looking at new ways of applying VIA-IS character strengths; today we’re covering Prudence, Self-Regulation, Humility/Modesty and Spirituality.

The reason for applying your signature strengths in new ways every day is because research shows it is an effective way to improve your well-being longer-term (See Seligman, Steen, Park & Peterson, 2005).

PRUDENCE:
i) When driving stay 5 miles per hour under the speed limit
ii) Think twice before saying anything other than “please” or “thank you”
iii) Before you decide to do something, reflect on its likely consequences 1 hour, 1 day or 1 year later

SELF-REGULATION:
i) Start an exercise programme and stick to it every day
ii) Tidy your desk or office every night before you go home
iii) When tempted to lose your cool, count to 10 (or until the emotion subsides)
iv) Resolve not to gossip. Stop yourself before you talk about someone behind their back.

HUMILITY / MODESTY
i) Don’t talk about yourself for a full day
ii) Dress in a way that does not to draw attention to yourself
iii) Find a way in which a colleague is better than you. Compliment them for it

SPIRITUALITY:
i) Every day think about the purpose of your life
ii) Meditate or pray at the start of every day
iii) Attend a religious service of a faith unfamiliar to you
iv) For 5 minutes every day think about what you can do to improve the world or your community.

It’s recommended that you try the same activity every day for a couple of weeks, although bear in mind that if it really isn’t working for you after a few days, pick another one.

For more activities related to Integrity, Love, Humour, Appreciation of Beauty or Social Intelligence, click here.

For activities related to using Fairness, Kindness, Open-Mindedness, Curiosity, Love of Learning or Creativity, click here.

For activities related to Leadership, Gratitude, Perspective, Forgiveness, Teamwork (Citizenship) and Bravery, click here.

For activities related to Perseverance, Vitality and Hope, click here.

We’d also love to hear your own examples of activities that worked for you.

In future posts we’ll be exploring the CIPD’s model of well-being at work, as well as the benefits and downsides of other Strengths models, such as the Clifton StrengthsFinder.

In this post we look at new ways of applying 3 more of the VIA character strengths, Perseverance, Vitality and Hope.

If you haven’t already done the VIA-IS online strengths test, why not take some time out now to complete it, and when you’ve got your list of top 5 (or signature) strengths, come back to find out how you might use them differently.

Just to remind you, the purpose of using your strengths in a new way every day is because research (Seligman, Steen, Park & Peterson, 2005) shows that this has a long-term positive effect on your happiness.

PERSEVERANCE:
i) Finish an important task before the deadline
ii) Work for several hours straight without interruptions – divert your phone and don’t check your email
iii) Make a list of things to do and do one thing on the list every day
iv) Notice your self-talk about stopping a task and ignore it. Focus on the task in hand.

VITALITY / ZEST:
i) Do something physically vigorous in the morning
ii) Volunteer for an activity at work
iii) Do something because you want to, not because you need to
iv) Get a good nights sleep, and eat a healthy breakfast to give yourself more energy during the day
v) Say ‘why not?’ three times more frequently than you say ‘why?’

HOPE / OPTIMISM
i) Think of a past disappointment and the opportunities that it made possible
ii) Notice your negative thoughts. Counter them with positive thoughts.
iii) Write down your goals for the next week/month/year and make concrete plans for accomplishing them.
iv) Keep a journal and every night record a decision that you made that day which will impact your life in the long run

As mentioned before, if the activity doesn’t work for you after a couple of days, try another one.

If you would like to find more activities related to using Fairness, Kindness, Open-Mindedness, Curiosity, Love of Learning or Creativity, click here.

For more activities related to the strengths of Integrity, Love, Humour, Appreciation of Beauty or Social Intelligence, click here.

For more activities related to the strengths of Leadership, Gratitude, Perspective, Forgiveness, Teamwork (Citizenship) and Bravery, click here.

In our next post we will be looking at the remaining 4 character strengths, Prudence Self-Regulation, Humility and Spirituality.

Please also remember to send us examples of activities that worked for you, we’d love to hear about them.

Thanks to Jonathan Haidt and Chris Peterson for many of the suggested activities.