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Positive Psychology and Change Beth Banks Cohn, PhD March 6, 2013
14

Positive Psychology and Change: Implications for Change Management

Oct 19, 2014

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Positive psychology is the science of human flourishing: What makes people successful? What makes them happy? We examine the connection between positive psychology and change management - it's more important than you think.
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Page 1: Positive Psychology and Change: Implications for Change Management

Positive Psychology and ChangeBeth Banks Cohn, PhD

March 6, 2013

Page 2: Positive Psychology and Change: Implications for Change Management

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Outline

Why Positive Psychology?What is Positive Psychology?Positive Psychology and Change• Neuroplasticity• Motivation to Change• Affect• Behavior• CognitionConclusions

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Why Positive Psychology

• “When you appreciate the positive, the positive appreciates.” Tal Ben Shahar, PhD

• Negativity breeds negativity, positivity breeds positivity.

• We can learn more from what works than from what doesn’t work.

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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What is Positive Psychology?The Science of Human Flourishing

1998 Dr. Martin Seligman “officially” founded it• Study success and happiness, not just unhappiness or

sickness• Asking different questions, not only focusing on the

negatives failures

The Backstory: Really started in the 1950’s with Humanistic PsychologyFirst force – Behaviorism

Second force - Psychoanalysis

Third force – Humanistic Psychology

“Morphed” into self help movement

Positive Psychology

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Positive Psychology and Change

Old paradigm

Learning from failure

What is not working and why?

What are my development areas?

New paradigmLearning from success and failure

What is working and how can I build on it?

What are my strengths and how can I use them more? How are my strengths and development areas related?

What can we do to ensure lasting change in individuals and organizations?

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Neuroplasticity

• Our brains continue to change until the day we die.

• Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to form new neural connections.

• Neural pathways are channels, like rivers.• Can be wide or narrow.• Created through experience• Self-reinforcing

• Negative Channels• Positive Channels• Brain Lock

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Neuroplasticity: Implications for Organizations

• Organizations have their own “neural pathways”• Written (procedures)• Unwritten (culture)

• Self-Reinforcing – stronger neural pathways become stronger with less effort

• Negative Channels• Positive Channels• “Brain Lock”

• Key is knowing an organization’s “neural pathways”

• Key is persistence when wanting to change a “neural pathway”

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Motivation to Change

• Do I really want to change• Do I have enough motivation to change?

• Need emotions to create motion.• Motivation to act = Passion/Perceived effort

• Do I see the need to change?• Do I believe change is possible?

Implications for organizations:• Organizational motivation• The Motivation to Act formula• Emotions

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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ABC’s of Positive Psychology

Affect

Behavior

Change

Cognition

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Affect

Use the emotions that come up during a change – positive or negative

Post-traumatic Stress/ Post-traumatic Growth80% of soldiers experience Post-traumatic GrowthTestimony to our inner strength and resilience

Peak experience: replaying and imagining the peak experience; fortifies neural pathways; journaling – describing; taking time; taking action

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Behavior

• Real lasting change must have behavior change attached to it.

• Study (1993) Ericsson “The study of elite performance…”• Work hard• Work Smart• Work Smarter

• Coping: Taking action is more important than succeeding. Taking action creates new neural pathways

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Cognition

• Event Interpretation Emotion Action?

Or

• Event Emotion Interpretation Action?

• The 3 M’s: Magnifying, Minimizing and Making-up.

• Where do my “smarts” come in?

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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ABC’s: Implications for Organizations

Affect

Behavior

Change

Cognition

Sense of Meaningfulness

Sense of ComprehensibilitySense of Manageability

Coherence

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.

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Conclusions

• Individuals and Organizations have neural pathways that affect their interest and ability in change.

• Motivation to act = passion/perceived effort

• Lasting change must have all three components – Affect, Behavior and Cognition – in order to be successful.

• Building the “case for change” isn’t enough – It must be comprehensible, manageable and meaningful to all employees in order to be successful.

• Change the questions, change the focus…to the positive.

©2013 Beth Banks Cohn. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy without permission.