Many are living in difficult times with a heightened sense of anxiety, hopelessness, despondency and exhaustion. It can be hard for Set members to hold a sense of autonomy and possibility as they bring their personal and organisational challenges to the table in this social, economic and politically unsettled context. For some, it is getting tougher to deliver, to keep resourceful and keep learning. ‘What's the point? How can I keep going? What other challenges are on the horizon?’ Such thoughts can spiral downwards.

We thought we would turn to Positive Psychology to see what tools and ideas might be useful and relevant in this current climate. There’s lots of information available about Positive Psychology and the work of Seligman, Peterson, Dweck Csikszentmihalyi etc, and we have gone for a simple definition

“Positive Psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living” Peterson 2008

It is important to say here that Positive Psychology is not about unrealistic optimism. There is absolutely room for challenge and difficulty. It is about balancing negative bias with some concrete ideas and activities, how we can build resilience to deal with challenges, and acknowledge a range of emotions. It’s about the range of options and behaviours that help us create the different versions of positive living and achieve well-being.

The focus in Positive Psychology is on strengths, optimism, well-being, gratitude, compassion, self esteem, self confidence and hope.

We looked at three Positive Psychology concepts to see what might be useful in Action Learning. We have identified the key elements of each approach and some questions that might be relevant in Action Learning.

1. Martin Seligman’s PERMA-H. It stands for:

P = Positive emotions - enjoying ourselves in the moment

E = Engagement - being absorbed in things we enjoy

R = Relationships – we are social creatures and good relationships are vital to our well being

M = Meaning - sense of purpose

A = Accomplishment – thriving when we achieve

H = Health, a more recent addition – establishing habits that increase physical and psychological health

In a nutshell what we get from this framework is that there isn’t just one route to wellbeing. For example, Positive Emotions, will depend on your disposition, social context and life events.

These six PERMAH pillars are the building blocks for leading a life of meaning, and fulfilment, to help us build resilience and well-being.

If, as facilitators, we notice from the content, tone and energy those feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, despondency here are some questions that might bring back some balance:

What will help you experience more positive emotions?
Where could you increase your engagement in the things you enjoy most?
How could you more fully use your skills and talents?
How could you improve one of your key relationships that isn’t working well?
What purpose and meaning are you getting from your work, involvement, life?
How do you acknowledge and value your achievements and accomplishments?

2. Carol Dweck’s “The Power of Yet”.

There is a lot of relevance here for Action Learning, in this seemingly simple approach of adding “yet”. This is about the idea of a Growth Mindset, where we believe we can improve, that our abilities aren’t fixed and that challenges and difficulties are opportunities to learn and grow.

A fixed mindset is one where we believe our abilities are set in stone and stay that way. We seek out approval and see failures as disasters, so we limit what we try in case we fail.

The brain is a muscle and can be trained to believe we can learn, change and grow even if we have had many influences on us shaping us into a fixed mindset - school, upbringing, work culture etc.

The “yet” view of building mental muscles is all about helping us shift things beyond insights.

Some “Not Yet“ questions might include

How could you use the power of “yet” around your challenge?
When do you tell yourself I am not good at this, I can’t do this?
What happens if you say to yourself “not yet”?
What could you be doing if you took a “can do” position?

3. Dr Kristen Neff - Self Compassion.

Neff’s research is really valuable for our Action Learning work. In AL we invite set members to experiment, take risks for the sake of innovating, finding solutions and learning. Trial and error, failing is part of the learning process.

People who are compassionate towards their failings and imperfections, have more well being than people who always judge themselves.

Compassion is about self ( giving yourself the kindness you would a friend), humanity (recognising suffering is a shared human experience), and mindfulness (taking a balanced approach to emotions). This is about letting go of criticism, being kind to yourself, and working through self judgement. There’s a lot in here that is challenging for many of us.

Some self compassion questions might include;

If you were your own best friend, what would you be saying to yourself now?
Where do you need to be more compassionate towards yourself? Towards others?
What does it look, sound, and feel like to treat yourself with compassion and care?
What does it look like to add compassion to any actions or intentions you're setting?

Some take aways from this brief dive into Positive Psychology

There are real world as well as individual benefits from well-being. Research shows optimism is a key element and well being impacts on mental and physical health, relationships, productivity. When we are in a better place in ourselves, with inner strengths, resilience and resourcefulness we are more able to impact the world around us.
There are tools and ideas within Positive Psychology that can help us be resourceful and resilient as facilitators as well as in our AL sets
It might be a useful conversation with your sets to see if there is a place for bringing some resources into sessions – maybe as a check-in or check-out?
There is power in even small shifts of perspective (towards gratitude and appreciation).