The same can be true within organisations.  Negative thinking is strong and contagious. Knocking each and every positive suggestion – we’ve done that before, it didn’t work then so why would it now? – can soon lead to a reluctance to try new things, an aversion to taking the risk of making radical proposals.

In January I took part in a workshop which merged the concepts of Appreciative Inquiry with Action Learning.  Using the structure of Action Learning in our groups, we each in turn talked about where we are in one part of our lives – Discovery.  Then we talked about our Dreams – what could be, without constraints.  Our Action Learning set, the other people in our small group, then helped us as individuals to hone down what we could do as first steps to Design and Deliver that Dream.  It was a powerful and uplifting experience, both as recipients to others’ questioning inquiry and as enquirers into the other person’s dreams.

The workshop was led by a trainer from New Zealand and he introduced the Maori proverb:

We walk into the future backwards, looking at the past

To me, that is a very liberating idea.  We can decide what of our past baggage we carry with us into the future.  And we can decide what dreams we will hold on to, deciding how to bring them a little closer with positive steps and actions.

President Barack Obama, with his book the “Audacity of Hope” and his campaign phrase “we can”, has brought a new positivity to America – at least from what our relatives in the USA tell us.  Obama does seem to be walking positively into the future, despite the obvious challenges his administration faces.  But he is also walking backwards into that future, looking at the USA’s and his own past, conscious of having to acknowledge and deal with historical wrongs.

Beware the power of negative thinking – it can be very depressing. Instead, looking at the past as you walk backwards into the future, hang on to those positive dreams and work to make them a closer reality.  Now that’s uplifting!

Positive, realistic thinking is a powerful tool to take with us on our walk into the future.

So much of our work life and possibly our home life as well is about dealing with weaknesses.  The appraisal as an opportunity to point out someone’s short-falling or be given (yet again) the personal development plan to work on that weakness.

We tend to have a wide vocabulary relating to weakness – ‘could do better’, ‘room for improvement’, ‘rise to the challenge’, ‘opportunities for development’, etc.  But how big is our strengths vocabulary?  Can you readily define a strength?  How many strengths do you have?  How many do you regularly use in your work situation?

The Centre for Applied Positive Psychology or CAPP is headed up by Alex Linley.  In his book ‘Average to A+’, Linley defines a strength as follows:

A strength is a pre-existing capacity for a particular way of behaving, thinking or feeling that is authentic and energising to the user, and enables optimal functioning, development and performance.

So it’s something that is already there within our psyche, even if latent and/or underdeveloped.  It may be something we have inherited or developed very early in life.  We are predisposed to using that strength.  When we use a strength, it feels ‘real’ – that we are being true to ourselves rather than acting or showing learned behaviour.

Using our strengths is energising in that we have more vitality, less burnout and swifter recovery.  It recharges rather than exhausts us.  When we use our strengths, we perform and function better.  We tend to feel more in the flow, we learn and develop faster and we are most likely to excel – rather than be average. To be A+ or A star rather than C.

Linley points out that we need to realise our strengths in two ways: to identify those we have, to recognise and appreciate them; and to make use of them, to realise their potential.

CAPP is developing strengths-based interviewing to help organisations identify individuals whose strengths match the requirements of the role. So often organisations focus on the gap analysis – what is missing in the applicant and how it can be bridged.  Just asking interviewees:

• “when are you at your best?”
• “what can I count on you for the most?”
• “what are the things that most energise you?”

will quickly begin to identify strengths.  That is not saying ignore weaknesses.  But a focus on strengths makes many weaknesses irrelevant.  It gets away from the ‘curse of mediocrity’ where we can all do everything or be anything we want to be…

Strength spotting is a fun exercise, especially for anyone who wants people to flourish in the workplace.  Alex Linley’s book is available through the 3D HR Book Store or from CAPP.