Think… 5 to 1
Sometimes I think I missed the really good stuff in graduate school. I received my degree in Industrial / Organizational Psychology before the Positive Psychology trend – or shall I say, sharp right turn – really took off. When I went to school, psychologists spent most of their time studying people who weren’t functioning well and then tried to apply the learning to the rest of us. The sharp turn happened when the simple idea was proposed that there is also a lot to be learned from studying successful, well-adjusted people. [Such a simple, yet profound idea]
A quote from www.happier.com on Positive Psychology
Unlike traditional psychology that focuses on deficits, disease, and dysfunction, positive psychology highlights human strengths and potential, and celebrates what is best in life. It emphasizes goals, well-being, satisfaction, happiness, interpersonal skills, perseverance, talent, wisdom, and personal responsibility. Positive psychology is concerned with understanding what makes life worth living, with helping people become more self-organizing and self-directed, and with recognizing that people and experiences are embedded in a social context.
Some GOOD STUFF on Feedback from Positive Psychology Research
When I teach Leader-Managers how to give effective feedback, I often ask them the question, “What ratio between Appreciative / Thank You Feedback TO Constructive / Something Needs to Change Feedback creates the most productive work environment possible?” Most of my Leader-Managers guess 2:1. I then ask, “So what actually happens in your work environment?” They answer, “It’s 1:1 if we’re lucky”. [Of course you know the real answer, because you’re reading this blog.
Research referenced by Harvard Business Review – January 2005 (Marcial Losada and Emily Heaphy, University of Michigan) indicates that when individuals or teams hear five positive comments to every negative one, they unleash a level of positive energy that fuels higher levels of performance. Another research study, measuring the impact of the ratio of positive emotions to negative emotions on Human Flourishing (how’s that for a positive psychology title!), found a 3:1 effect [Barbara L. Fredrickson – University of Michigan & Marcial F. Losada – Universidade Cato´ lica de Brası´lia.
Recently I read Why Marriages Succeed or Fail, by John Gottman. And guess what shows up in that book? “The magic ratio is 5 to 1. In other words, as long as there is five times as much positive feeling and interaction between husband and wife as there is negative, we found the marriage was likely to be stable.”
Know How Practice: Apply it to your Own Leadership
You and your teammates just launched a major new initiative. If…and this is a big if…if you spend time debriefing the launch, what do you focus on? What you did right or what didn’t go smoothly and you need to fix. Now I’m not saying, you shouldn’t talk about what needs to be fixed, what I am saying is that the team will find the session more motivating / more energizing if you focus more on what went right and what should be repeated next time.
Hmmm… 5:1 – I think I need to go compliment my daughter on her creative writing paper! “Hey, Kristen…”
{ 0 comments… add one now }