Home Taking Action Change
Category:

Change

When Does Growth Really Stop? (Part 2)
AllBusinessChangePositive agingTaking Action

When Does Growth Really Stop? (Part 2)

written by Donald Officer

Part 1 ended with a question about whether human beings are capable of holistic growth throughout their adult years, just as children learn to expand their perspectives during the early years. In Part 2, I contend that the passing of youth does not leave us confined to learning only very specific grownup skills for which a capacity is already in place. We can go beyond skill training to growth.

Kegan and Lahey give us existence proofs, three very different corporate cultures where continuous personal growth is the norm, with all that entails.

An Expanded Model of Development

Kegan’s three stages. Click for larger image.

In the late eighties, Robert Kegan noticed that some people essentially plateau in early adulthood, while others undergo a whole range of learning that offers more than new skills or knowledge acquisition. Not only do these people come to know more things over the long haul, but like Piaget’s children, they grow to know differently. It’s not just how much more they know. It’s also the different ways they come to know.

Kegan simplifies Piaget’s early childhood categories into an impulse-and-reflex-driven beginning and a needs-and-wishes structure later in childhood. At this point, others in the child’s world are recognized more for the impact they have on the child’s self than as unique persons in themselves. This is where the Kegan theory gets interesting. We recognize lingering bits of under-cooked initial relationship styles among colleagues, neighbors, and public figures. For some of us, these immature styles persist or return at moments of stress well into adulthood. Mentally and emotionally, if not physically, we may exercise the Peter Pan option.

Growth, the invisible kind, is a choice. True, it is hardly surprising that the desire to overcome the awkward interactions of adolescence generally drives most of us to achieve the socialized mind of post-adolescence. Many people settle for that. You can carve out a decent enough life if you can just get along.

More aware of others’ needs and the intricacies of relationships, the expanding self-authoring mind begins to understand the world as a system. Confidence in personal identity leads to willing accommodation and appreciation of others.

In Kegan’s estimation the fifth order, the self-transforming mind, is unusual in individuals under 40, usually deepening with passing decades as awareness expands of differences in identities, ideologies, and systems. This often comes with the acquisition of fuller life experience. Be cautioned though, at this level you really have to want to go there! Do these qualities, taken as a whole, not look like the embodiment of positive psychology’s PERMA formula?

What Do These Stages Look Like in Organizations?

Anyone familiar with the recent history of work and the framework of modern organizations will see that a common shared assumption about workforce members imitates Piaget’s flat line. If you can do the job and fit into the culture, you are not expected to change beyond a few necessary new skills and adjustments. Their acquisition is not always easy, but except along a narrow band, few companies pose true stretch goals. Unless you are slotted for leadership, get used to staying up-to-date on technology and whatever trends HR tells you are currently important, but don’t hope for much beyond that.

Where is lifelong development happening?

Adult learners, we are told, are only interested in knowing what they need to know to get the job done now. We are told to call what can still be mastered training. The theory behind it is called androgogy. Development, at best, should be preparation for the next job.

However, Kegan and Lahey, armed with an awareness of possibilities across the full spectrum of a career take a very different view using a positive, growth-oriented mindset. Most encouraging for those of us who recognize the possibilities of positive psychology in the world of work is that several organizations are already practicing a deliberately developmental approach with all their employees. In Kegan and Lahey’s book, An Everyone Culture, the three companies showcased exhibit not only positive individual results by every important measure, but also exemplary organizational outcomes.

The authors describe the three organizations as deliberately developmental organizations (DDOs), but apart from that key designation they differ extensively. Next Jump is an exceptional e-commerce tech company, Decurion is immersed in multiple branches of cutting edge cinematic entertainment, and Bridgewater Associates operates two hedge funds controlling $165 billion in global investments. While each of these businesses represents a vastly different knowledge pool, the level of excellence required to keep each of them operating at the top of their game requires similarly unrelenting investment in the development of individuals as well as team centered interpersonal and transformative understanding. Without a DDO mindset it can’t happen.

Bridgewater Associates

DDOs in action – adapted from An Everyone Culture – Click to see larger image.

You may have heard of Ray Dalio and his best-selling book, Principles. Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, a Wall Street firm that weathered the great recession without serious losses. Bridgewater is credited by the Economist for making more money for its investors than any other hedge fund in history. But if you read Principles or watch Dalio’s TED talk you will learn that he considers Bridgewater’s real achievement to be the creation of a culture of radical transparency made possible by deep mutual trust, an outcome of deliberate development.

Next Jump

The same fearless attitude born of unwavering commitment to psychic safety leads Next Jump staffers to continuously ask, “What opportunities will there be to practice my backhand?” insider code for overcoming each individual’s greatest difficulty. The supportive Next Jump culture creates a robust safety net permitting everyone in it to take on steep challenges that teach deep self-knowledge. This kind of learning may be humbling, although it is assuredly bonding.

Decurion

Likewise, process unfolds in Decurion known for its axioms or tested company values.

Decurion’s axioms are statements about how we choose to view and live our lives. They are decisions about how we act together. They reflect a choice to see wholeness and possibility rather than separateness and trade-offs.

“Decurion’s purpose is to provide places for people to flourish. We believe that every human being has something unique to express. Flourishing is the process of living into one’s unique contribution and expressing oneself fully. It is the process of becoming oneself. We seek to create the conditions for this through our work. And by demonstrating the efficacy of our practices in generating financial and developmental returns, we hope to inspire and guide other companies in making work more profitable and more humane. In this way, we seek to change society for the better.”

Their shared beliefs may explain why Decurion holds together despite continuous forced acceptance of a staggering diversification of every kind imaginable in a business where creativity is lifeblood and would have fractured most other firms.

There are others…

You can look outside the organizations referenced in An Everyone Culture for more instances of cultures where the person is considered as important as the work. You will find them. Daniel Coyle’s recently released, The Culture Code is a great guidebook for creating them.

In another recent LinkedIn post, Adam Grant reproduces a transcript of his conversational podcast with The Daily Show writers. Grant observes that informality, trust, irreverence, and “burstiness” (well-timed and well-tolerated interruptions) move the high-pressure process forward. The comedy writers’ banter (unchanged when host Trevor Noah steps into the room) is a dynamic form of brainstorming that is actually productive.

Obviously not every successful organization practices the integral deliberative development that Kegan and Lahey find so distinguishing. Not every organization can. What is clear, is that if more of our organizations do not realize how important lifelong development is to everyone at work, genuinely achievable career satisfaction and meaning for all will be very hard to come by, and the organizations themselves will miss important opportunities.
 

 

References:

Kegan, R. & Lahey, L.L. (2016). An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization. Harvard Business Review Press.

Kegan, R. (2013). The further reaches of adult development. RSA Talk.

Coyle, D. (2018). The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. Bantam Books.

Dalio, R. (2017). Principles: Life and Work. Simon and Schuster.

Dalio, R. (2017). How to build a company where the best ideas win. TED2017.

Decurion (2014). Our Philosophy. Web page.

Dunbar, M. F. & Zurer, R. (2016, November 6). How to profit by helping your workers be their best selves. Conscious Company Media.

Grant, Adam (2018, April 27). The Daily Show’s secret to creativity. LinkedIn post.

Photo Credit: Flickr via Compfight with Creative Commons licenses
Kegan’s 3 stages from Library of Concepts. The three most relevant stages of human development nowadays (Kegan 1/3).
Bovee and Thill
DDO picture source

June 22, 2018 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
When Does Growth Really Stop? (Part 1)
BusinessChange

When Does Growth Really Stop? (Part 1)

written by Donald Officer

Imagine

What if a company did everything in its power to create a culture in which everyone, not just selected people identified as high potential, could overcome their own internal barriers to change and use errors and vulnerabilities as prime opportunities for personal and company growth?

We can imagine organizations where serious personal and organizational growth are broadly distributed, but such organizations are few and far between. More common are small businesses or teams working in industries where something drives the members to seek a close consensus. Think of platoons in a war zone or creative units producing quality products for demanding customers.

Falling Short via Deliberate Deception

Because short-term mindsets often prevail, work cultures are none too supportive of development on the job. New hires are expected to come fully trained, given the buyer’s market for employment. On the other hand, employers are usually suspicious of the career intentions of overqualified recruits settling for work outside their fields. Psychologist Adam Grant recently posted a cartoon to his LinkedIn page showing a job interviewer advising an overqualified candidate to come back when he’s forgotten a few things. With this short-term focus, well established principles like learning transfer from one skill set to another are easily dismissed, while techniques like coaching are customarily reserved for managerial elites.

Managing how we are perceived

Many of the reflexively discouraging ways we operate in business, government, and non-profits have consequences for the future. How is that? Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, research and business practice collaborators for 30 years, published An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization in 2016. In this book, they make the pointed observation that most of our organizations underperform for the same embarrassing reason, “…nearly everyone is doing a second job no one is paying them for – namely, covering their weaknesses, trying to look their best, and managing other people’s impressions of them.” Not exactly a strengths-based path to optimum performance.

In such a necessarily deceptive cultural environment, it is difficult to assess how much of the effort expended is directed to the real business of the organization. It is also hard to pinpoint and address the critical pain points in the operation. Such a state of affairs will taint every explicit statement of encouragement or acknowledgment since such language will not be trusted and may serve to mask more negative or suspicious feelings.

Gamification for Greater Engagement?

One approach to addressing suboptimal organizational climates is to frame the issue as employee engagement. Surveys suggest disengagement hovers over about two thirds of the workforce. Could management make the daily grind more enticing or at least more bearable? One technique is gamification, using an element of competition to keep things interesting. The playground could be virtual, board based, physically interactive with movement through shared spaces (embodied as facilitators like to say) or involve any of a number of forms of mental jousting.

Flight simulator

The idea behind gamification is to take the worker’s mind out of a frustrating, sometimes not so safe, office setting into a temporary world where dysfunction is not a real hazard. This is a bit like using a flight simulator, which come to think of it, is classic gamification. Gaming methodologies have merits by making work feel less like school and more like recess.

Other popular and positive tools for resetting engagement include mindfulness with its short track to flow and the whole suite of positive deviance tools listed in valuable books like Profit from the Positive, Awakening Compassion at Work, or Grateful Leadership. Happier and more respectful workplaces are necessary for optimal satisfaction or performance. However, as necessary as positive infusions are, they are not sufficient to achieve the best results.

Hygiene and Purpose

Management theorist Frederick Herzberg discussed what matters in our work decades ago. Foreshadowing the science of flourishing that combines hedonia with eudaimonia. Herzberg developed a two-factor theory to explain employee satisfaction as a prerequisite for full engagement, distinguishing between hygienic and motivating factors. Herzberg’s point was that staff would not be happy for long without basic needs being met, such as adequate wages and key benefits. However, even if these hygienic needs were satisfied, employees would not stay engaged indefinitely if they lacked a deeper sense of purpose.

Where does that purpose come from? It could come from a deep commitment to the job’s importance or through the crafting of the job by the current job holder to meet a personal standard of meaning. It might also come from being part of a larger social enterprise such as building a worthy institution or fighting a just war. These are meaningful ends, but they might not reach the high bar of fulfilling individual purpose.

What Does the Growth Curve Look Like?

This is where Kegan’s theory of lifelong development comes into play. But to understand it we need to look at the work of an important developmental psychology pioneer.

Children making sense of the world

Early in the 20th Century Swiss biologist and psychologist, Jean Piaget, started to observe children systematically, starting with his own, as they attempted to make sense of the world. He saw that through interactions with their surroundings they developed explanation frameworks. He also noted that while children were absorbent learners, only after experience accumulates and is assimilated could the young fully accept abstract concepts typical of later ages and stages.

Piaget’s scheme begins with what he calls the sensori-motor stage of infants and toddlers, proceeding through to the formal operations level of mid adolescence. Here, says Piaget, cognition reaches its final form as the individual is now capable of deductive reasoning. If this model were shown as a linear graph, we would see a flat line starkly indicating no meaningful growth after early adulthood. While teenagers might endorse this model as they assess their elders, does it really jibe with the evidence?

Is development a flat line after adolescence?

Great work was done by Erick Erickson who mapped out the challenges life imposes as crises lead to developing maturity. Likewise, researcher Albert Bandura has documented how people continue to learn throughout their lives by watching one another and recognizing how they shape the environment even as they are shaped by it. So, there is refinement to look forward to, but is there growth?

In Part 2, we will look closely at how the growth proposition has actually been put to the test in three existing real-world companies with solid results which are heartening for organizations, managers, employees, customers, and society. In Kegan and Lahey’s deliberately developmental organizations (DDOs) everyone is expected to grow and to find new strengths while interacting with equally committed colleagues on parallel journeys. It may sound idyllic, but it’s tough and gritty as well as intensely rewarding.
 

 

References:

Primary:

Kegan, R. & Lahey, L.L. (2016). An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization. Harvard Business Review Press.

Supportive:

Coyle, D. (2018). The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. Bantam Books.

Elkind, D. (2013). Piaget’s Developmental Theory: An Overview. Film.

Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: International Universities Press, Inc.

Grant, A. (2018). The Daily Show’s Secret to Creativity. WorkLife TED podcast transcript. LinkedIn post.

Greenberg, M. & Maymin, S. (2013). Profit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business. McGraw Hill.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snydermann, B. B. (1993). The Motivation to Work. Transaction Publishers.

Umlas, J. (2012). Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results. McGraw-Hill Education.

Worline, M. & Dutton, J.(2017). Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Photo Credit: Flickr via Compfight with Creative Commons licenses
Facade: Managing how we are perceived courtesy of mharrsch
Flight simulator courtesy of lam_chihang
Children making sense of the world courtesy of Colegio Jean Piaget
Line with bird courtesy of R.H.Sumon™

June 20, 2018 2 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Self-Care, the Positive Psychology Way
AllChangeHealthMedicinePositive EmotionRelationships

Self-Care, the Positive Psychology Way

written by Linda Schiavone

I have chosen a grueling and demanding calling: I am a licensed professional counselor. This calling is both one of the most emotionally challenging of professions and one of the most uplifting human endeavors. I serve as a holding container, a cradler of secrets, a re-enactor of Bowlby’s secure attachment, and a key change agent in facilitating another’s personal growth. Along with my colleagues in the mental health professions, I bear witness to human suffering. I see human depravities that often unfold in therapy, but also the most glorious and profound self-growth imaginable.

Holding the secrets

Self-Care in the Face of Vulnerability to Burnout

People in my profession frequently experience strong emotions brought about by the intimacy of the counseling relationship. Our work is particularly challenging in that it requires deep and sustained engagement with clients. Because of the psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually demanding nature of this work, compassion fatigue and burnout are hazards of the profession, which in turn significantly impact our ability to be effective counselors.

Moreover, traditional self-care is primarily solitary. This is the paradox of the therapist’s working environment: working alone despite the intimacy of many therapeutic relationships. Indeed, the counseling profession can be both isolating and overwhelming.

Thus, attending to our personal selves is critical for us to be able to serve our clients. In fact, self-care activities that promote well-being are mandated by professional counseling associations and state laws in order to maintain professional competencies.

Despite the theoretical foundation underpinning the professional necessity of self-care for therapists, there is no widespread agreement about how to actually do it. Self-care is a topic more conceptualized than applied, and ironically, one that is more requested of our clients than expected of ourselves.

Moving away from a Deficit Model

The traditional self-care strategies that do exist follow a pathology-oriented model, focusing on reducing and mitigating stress-related outcomes, counteracting burnout and compassion fatigue, avoiding stress-related adverse effects, reducing professional impairment, and limiting legal liability.

Minister to loneliness

Therapists are left with no clear direction for proactively meeting the demands of a demanding profession, nor are they encouraged to draw on a community of support. Thus, there is a very real unmet need for nurturing a culture of self-care that integrates psychological, emotional, spiritual, and relational wellness into our professional identities, a foundation from which therapists can sustain not only their professional functioning, but their very selves.

The science of positive psychology offers a radical shift in both the theory underlying self-care and the self-care practices. A positive-psychology-based model changes the focus from deficit-based to one oriented to well-being, while shifting the goal from mitigation and remediation to self-renewal and optimal functioning, both personally and professionally. When I picture a flourishing therapist, I see someone who engages in self-care practices that promote personal self-growth, spiritual fulfillment, emotional support, psychological replenishment, and relationship connection. The contrast with traditional self-care is illustrated in the table below.

TRADITIONAL SELF-CARE POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Pathology-oriented model Model oriented to wellbeing, thriving, and flourishing
Reduce and mitigate stress-related outcomes Cultivate the conditions for self-renewal
Remediate burnout, compassion fatigue, and professional impairment Promote self-growth, improvement, and transformation
Focus on self-protection, reducing risk, and limiting exposure and legal liability Focus on optimal personal and professional functioning
Constrictive and restrictive Expansive
Practiced in isolation Engages community and connectedness

Practices Drawn from Positive Psychology

Using positive psychology’s pillars of well-being, I developed a formal self-care program for therapists that cultivates enhanced well-being by offering psychological, emotional, and spiritual support through peer connection and community.

PSYCH Logo

The acronym, PSYCH, succinctly describes the motivation for this set of practices: Positive Self-care Yields Caring Healers.

The program consists of seven evidence-based interventions, each of which has been demonstrated to contribute to therapists’ well-being as well as to translate into tangible benefits in the maintenance of the therapeutic relationship and the effectiveness of therapy. Importantly, PSYCH is practiced within a group setting, providing opportunities for therapists to come together for social connectedness, which capitalizes on the demonstrated benefits of relationships and social support.

Component activities include:

  1. Positive Introductions, in which individuals describe a time when they were their very best selves
     

    2. We don’t have to walk alone.

  2. Strengths Spotting, in which partners acknowledge and describe the use of a specific strength by the other
     
  3. Active Constructive Responding, in which partners practice the principles of supportive responses to positive events
     
  4. Positivity Portfolios, in which participants cultivate positive emotions and foster emotional perspective through creation of a collection of mementos focused on a selected positive emotion
     
  5. Savoring by seeking bittersweet experiences, in which participants focus attention on an experience in three dimensions of time (past, present, future)
     
  6. Reciprocity Ring, in which high-quality connections are fostered as participants both make requests and help to fulfill requests
     
  7. Group meditation, prayer, and/or reflection, in which participants are mindful and/or spend time in the presence of God, Spirit, Nature, a Higher Power

The table below shows how these activities contribute to pillars of well-being.

Pillar of Well-being Impact on Therapists Contributing Activity
Self-worth Enhances compassion, cushions against stress, fosters psychological flexibility, cultivates curiosity and listening skills Positive Introductions
Meaning Improves wellbeing, sense of meaning, coherence, purpose & relatedness, limits over-identification Signature Strengths
Relationships Improves empathy, relationship quality Active Constructive Responding
Positive emotions & perspective Increase positivity & wellbeing, enhances inter-connectedness Positivity Portfolios
Engagement & attention Improves skills for engaging and separating Savor the Bittersweet
Connectedness & community Cultivates understanding, empathy, & trust Reciprocity Ring
Spirituality, transcendence, & religion Improves attention & self-monitoring, welcoming & witnessing practices Meditation / Prayer / Reflection

Summary

Therapist self-care represents a unique application of the principles of positive psychology. Self-care that supports and sustains clinicians’ well-being through positive evidence-based strategies has immense potential not only for the therapists’ wellness, but also for the benefit of those they serve.

 

 

References

Schiavone, L. M. (2017). Positive Self-Care Yields Caring Healers (PSYCH): A Positive-Psychology-Based, Peer-Supported Self-Care Series for Therapist Wellbeing. MAPP Capstone, University of Pennsylvania.

Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. Basic Books.

Best Self Introductions: Peterson, C., (2006). A Primer in Positive Psychology New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Strengths-spotting: Niemiec, R. (2013). Mindfulness and Character Strengths. Hogrefe.

Active-Constructive Responding: Gable, S. L., Gonzaga, G. C., & Strachman, A. (2006). Will you be there for me when things go right? Supportive responses to positive event disclosures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 004-917.

Positivity Portfolio: Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive. New York: Crown.

Savoring: Bryant, F. & Veroff, J. (2007) Savoring: A new model of positive experience.. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Reciprocity Ring: Grant, Adam. (2013). Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. Viking Press.

Group meditation or religion: Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New York: Penguin Books.

Photo Credit: Flickr via Compfight with Creative Commons licenses

Holder of secrets courtesy of Gwendal_
Minister to loneliness courtesy of marcoverch
We don’t have to walk alone courtesy of Baha’i Views / Flitzy Phoebie

May 7, 2018 6 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
I Invite You to <em>American Snake Pit</em>
AllBook ReviewChangeHealthRelationshipsTaking Action

I Invite You to American Snake Pit

written by Kathryn Britton

 

Daniel Tomasulo is a master story teller. He is also a man with an important purpose.

In his new book released TODAY (May 1, 2018), American Snake Pit, the purpose is to open the eyes of his readers to the humanity of people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. I think reading this book can make our moral circles a little bit larger.

As he points out in his preface:

What I learned from [Richie] and from the people I have worked with is that, in spite of enormous intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, these individuals are not very different from you and me. They crave love; need affection, compassion, and kindness; get hurt when they feel left out; are in need of guidance; want meaningful relationships; get angry when they are betrayed or can’t get their needs met; and are generally as confused and uncertain about their course in life as the rest of us.

This book is a story of a real adventure, the establishment of a group home for people who had previously been warehoused in the institutional setting described by Robert F. Kennedy after a surprise visit,

“I think that particularly at Willowbrook, we have a situation that borders on a snake pit… living in filth and dirt, their clothing in rags, in rooms less comfortable and cheerful than the cages in which we put animals in a zoo.”

Dan reading aloud from his book

Following Kennedy’s visit and a news series by Geraldo Rivera, mental health treatment started being considered a civil right, but the transition away from mass institutionalization was neither easy nor smooth. Just releasing people from the institutions didn’t work. Homelessness, joblessness, and crime all went up. They needed places to go. By 1979, the easiest people to place in viable community homes and training programs had already been moved out years earlier. The people remaining needed many services to function outside the hospital.

Enter Tomasulo, in the last year of his doctoral program in psychology. He was flat broke and looking for a job. To hold body and soul together, he applied to manage one of the new group homes, Walden House, just being set up in small town. He got the job probably because of his answer to a question in the group interview:

“What if you found two residents kissing in one of their bedrooms?”
“If it was clear that neither of them were being coerced, I’d apologize and close the door.”

The stories in this book are real, though names and locations are changed to protect privacy. We are invited along to experience the challenges and adventures of residents and employees of Walden House.

Group Home = Home with Group Living in It

In the stories, we get to know people with odd behaviors, and slowly learn why those odd behaviors make sense, given what people are able to do and what they experienced before. Getting to know Sophia, Candy, Mike, Albert, Harold, Taimi, and the rest of the characters on the pages of this book has been as beguiling as reading my favorite novels.

We learn about relationships that grow among the residents, among staff and residents, and among staff. From initial discomfort, I found myself starting to love these people, to feel pity for their pasts, and to care how their futures would unfold.

There are many, many challenges, enough that chapters often end with cliff-hangers. Will they find enough people to staff the house? Can they get someone with catatonia to eat? What to do with someone who can’t speak and gets incredibly frustrated – and violent – when she can’t make herself understood? What happens when Benny keeps trying to see his father, especially after hearing the words, “Well, Benny, your father is in heaven now,” from the parish priest?

Then there’s the fire drill test. The mayor, a dead ringer for Danny DeVito in Taxi, doesn’t want this kind of house in his community. He colludes with his brother-in-law, the fire chief, to declare that Walden House must show they can get everybody out of the building in two minutes, or it closes down. Will they pass the fire drill? Then what happens when a real fire occurs?

Dan, closer to the time of the story

Tomasulo knows how to tell a story. For a sample, check out an earlier version of the Hot Dogs chapter, which we published here and included in the chapter on Perspective in Character Strengths Matter. He laces his observations with humor, and he helps us see heroes in unexpected places.

After reading this book, you’ll face the world a little bit differently. If you’re walking down the street and feel your eyes start to slide away from someone that looks a bit weird, maybe you’ll remember to think, “He’s human too.” Maybe your eyes will connect.

Note: Daniel Tomasulo went on to become a New Jersey licensed counseling psychologist frequently working with people with combined intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. He co-authored the book, Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Besides studying positive psychology, he specializes in psychodrama. He is also very good at making people laugh.

 

 
References

Tomasulo, D. (2018). American Snake Pit: Hope, Grit, and Resilience in the Wake of Willowbrook. Stillhouse Press.

The screen play of American Snake Pit has received over 20 awards at international film festivals since June 2017.

Tomasulo, D. (2014). Perspective: Giving Up When You Can’t Cut the Mustard. Positive Psychology News.

Razza, N. & Tomasulo, D. (2004). Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People With Intellectual Disabilities. American Psychological Association.

Laham, S. M. (2009). Expanding the moral circle: Inclusion and exclusion mindsets and the circle of moral regard. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(2), 25—253. Abstract.

Lombrozo, T. (2016). Expanding the circle of moral concern. NPR Opinion.

Polly, S. & Britton, K. H. (Eds.) (2015). Character Strengths Matter: How to Live a Full Life (Positive Psychology News). Positive Psychology News.

Photo Credit: Flickr via Compfight with Creative Commons License
Group Home courtesy of Onasill ~ Bill Badzo

May 1, 2018 0 comment
1 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Announcement: Webinar on Feedback and Change with Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich – Wednesday, May 9 at 2pm ET
AllBusinessChangePositive Organizational ScholarshipTaking Actionwebinars

Announcement: Webinar on Feedback and Change with Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich – Wednesday, May 9 at 2pm ET

written by Senia Maymin

ANNOUNCEMENT:  On May 9, we will have a Positive Psychology News webinar featuring Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich, co-inventors of Shift Positive 360®, a method for creating sustainable positive change by changing the way people give and receive feedback.

 Jen Ostrich, Co-Founder of Change Positive llc, PCC

After 14 years of leading teams and clients in the advertising industry, Jen decided to follow one of her own core beliefs of “leap and the net will appear” when she sprung into a new career of leadership coaching.  To complement her BA in Communications from Penn State, Jen is certified in leadership and transition coaching by the prestigious Hudson Institute, considered to be “the Harvard of Coaching.” Since then she’s become a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF) after completing nearly 1,000 hours of coaching.

Jen is the founder of ostrich coaching + consulting where she works primarily with leaders in creative communities such as advertising, marketing, and technology.  Jen helps leaders craft their own leadership brands and then live in ways that are authentic to who they truly are. Through positive psychology, emotional intelligence, the work of Brené Brown and other experiences across business and marketing, Jen brings a unique combination of being able to think like a coach, a leader, a brand, and a business person.

As the co-founder of Change Positive, llc and co-inventor of the Shift Positive 360® method, Jen is thrilled to be a change agent for giving feedback in an energizing and effective way while helping others to create sustainable positive change. When she’s not running her two businesses, Jen enjoys eating her way through Austin with her outrageously handsome dog, Koko.

Pete Berridge, Co-Founder of Change Positive llc, PCC, MAPP

Peter Berridge is an accomplished coach and facilitator who uses the sciences of positive psychology and executive coaching to help individuals, teams, and organizations be more engaged, effective, and productive. Pete became a certified executive coach through the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara and is one of 450 people in the world with a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Positive psychology is the study of human strengths and well-being, and it employs proven methods to promote the flourishing of people, organizations, and communities. It is with this training that the Shift Positive 360® was born. Pete was determined to bring the benefits of positive psychology into the feedback process, which led to him partnering with Jen Ostrich to create Change Positive, llc.

Pete is also the founder and president of Shorebird Coaching and Consulting. He has 25+ years of coaching (more than 3,500 hours of individual coaching), facilitation, and human resources experience, culminating as executive VP of Human Resources at Courage Center, a nationally respected healthcare agency serving over 20,000 people with disabilities annually. Pete’s passion is coaching senior executives, rising leaders, teams, and organizations that are navigating challenges and charting new directions.

When he’s not exercising his passions across his two businesses he’s either whittling a bird or chilling on a Minnesota lake in his boat with his two favorite pups and incredible wife, Jenny.

 

WHEN: May 9 at 2PM ET
WHERE: Zoom webinar
CONTENT: Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich discuss Why Positive Psychology Belongs in Feedback: the Shift Positive 360® Approach

This is a LIVE webinar. You will not have a chance to capture this in any way other than live. This webinar may be recorded, but for internal purposes only. If you want to be there, sign up to get it live.

 

What questions do you have for Pete and Jen?  Leave them for us in comments below so we can ask them on the webinar!

For questions, please email [email protected]

Q: How much does this webinar cost?
A: It is completely free!

Q: What will the format be?
A: One hour:

  • 40 minutes of PPN Q-and-A with Pete and Jen on Why Positive Psychology Belongs in Feedback: the Shift Positive 360® Approach
  • 20 minutes of your Q-and-A for Pete and Jen

This will be a highly interactive webinar. Be at your keyboard and ready to type in questions and comments and answers to Pete and Jen’s questions!

Topic: Why Positive Psychology Belongs in Feedback: the Shift Positive 360® Approach
Guests: Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich

When:  9 May 2018 @ 2:00pm ET
Where: Online – view the webinar anywhere!
Price for the webinar – FREE

Register

Click here for more information.

April 26, 2018 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Newer Posts
Older Posts