You probably read about the psychology study last year that asked people to sit alone with their thoughts, with no distractions, for just fifteen minutes. Surprisingly, many of the test subjects (67% of the men and 25% of the women) preferred to distract themselves with a mild but painful electric shock rather than experience their
When I worked as a hypnotherapist in the 1990s, I occasionally had clients who were scared of going into trance, or even of relaxing. I think that in some cases at least this fear derived from the popular idea of the Freudian view of the unconscious mind as a kind of dungeon where you lock
The biggest block to emotional self-awareness – and how to get through it Self-awareness is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence. Here’s why: if you are not aware of your own emotions, you will have trouble regulating them because you won’t notice the signs that tell you when a strong emotional surge is coming. You will
Sometimes our attempts to solve a problem cause an even bigger problem down the track. Here’s how to recognise these situations, and some ideas on what to do about it. An article on by Connirae Andreas on the always useful Steve Andreas blog reminds us that ‘coping mechanisms’ that help us ‘get by’ can have
A great post by Lee Newman on the Harvard Business Review blog turns the spotlight on our default reactions in challenging interpersonal situations. For example, how would you respond if someone attacks your cherished pet project at work? Some people’s default reaction would be to attack back, some would instinctively cave in or seek compromise, some would
Email as a way of communicating has certain ‘traps’ baked into it, which can obscure your message, mess up your working relationships, or if you’re really unlucky even end your career. These pitfalls are easy to avoid – and yet we still see managers making obvious mistakes every day. Here’s how to save yourself from
If you know about Appreciative Inquiry, the chances are that you’ll be familiar with its five guiding principles (the Constructionist, Poetic, Simultaneity, Anticipatory, and Positive principles as set out by David Cooperrider in, for example, the Appreciative Inquiry Handbook). Some more principles have started to emerge as AI consultants have refined their ideas in the
Traditionally, Appreciative Inquiry has had five guiding principles (the Constructionist, Poetic, Simultaneity, Anticipatory, and Positive principles as sent out by David Cooperrider in, for example, the Appreciative Inquiry Handbook). In recent years, new principles have started to emerge as Appreciative Inquiry consultants have refined their thinking in the light of practical experience. These are usually
“The task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths in ways that make a system’s weaknesses irrelevant.” – Peter Drucker, quoted by David Cooperrider in the foreword to The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change By Diana D. Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom Image of Peter Drucker
Recently I was interviewed by Robyn Stratton-Berkessel for her ‘Positivity Strategist’ podcast about the relationship between Appreciative Inquiry and NLP. During the conversation a couple of connections occurred to me that I hadn’t thought of before. Firstly, let’s look at the Appreciative Interview process (in which the interviewee tells the story of a time when
‘Confirmation Bias’ is when our minds filter what we perceive of the world around us, amplifying evidence that fits our existing beliefs and playing down or ignoring altogether any information that challenges them. Confirmation bias is inevitable – there’s so much information coming in all the time that we have to filter it somehow, or
