Traditionally people have focused on negative deviance, looking at ways people don’t measure up to others. More recently, scientists began exploring the conditions and processes that help people, groups, and institutions flourish. In other words, positive psychology.
Scholars explain that because negative emotions signal danger, people are hard-wired to view negative experiences as more urgent. Conversely, positive experiences aren’t dangerous, so they don’t require the same vigilance. Because of our survival instincts, negative emotions often overpower positive ones.
But, focusing on the positive evokes an entirely different set of responses that can unlock different parts of the brain and body. These positive responses are key to helping people flourish, be more creative, find wellbeing and feel a sense of self-determination. Practices that encourage these responses can literally alter one’s mental processes, perceptions and even physiology.
The Professional Strengths Accelerator™ (PSA) invites colleagues to share positive stories about an individual within the context of the organization’s values or strategic capabilities. This strengths-based feedback tool provides an opportunity to discover what other colleagues view as an individual’s superpowers in order to achieve positive emotional states and increase creativity, energy, confidence and openness to new ideas.
Our unique approach embraces individual strengths, identities and peoples’ need to understand how they contribute to the organization in order to find fulfillment and meaning at work. By accepting we are social animals who influence each other’s actions in our work, we can connect people with positive experiences to help individuals find their superpowers unleash their potential through their work and for the good of both the individual and the organization.
Feedback can provide insights into individual, team and organizational strengths, help flag opportunities for development and deepen self-awareness. Using a range of tools on the same platform can help people easily get the personalized data they need without breaking the bank.