Some of the examples he used and the general positive slant reminded me of why I like the Clifton StrengthsFinder so much. It lets people be who they are, focusing on the positive skills, talents and knowledge each person brings to the table--not where they fall short (which we all do somewhere down the line). The idea is we can spend a bunch of time working on improving our weaknesses--but they'll only improve minimally for all our efforts (because they're a weakness!)--OR we can put our focus on maximizing our strengths, which have a much better chance of getting us to the next level of whatever we're looking to accomplish.
Achor talks about how a typical study eliminates the outliers on a graph because they aren't normal and are "messing up" the data. Then he points out that "normal" really means "average" and if all we study is average, we will remain average.
Achor says "instead of deleting those positive outliers, what I intentionally do is come into a population like this one and say why...why is it that some of you are so high above the curve in terms of your intellectual ability, athletic ability, musical ability, creativity, energy levels, your resiliency in the face of challenge, your sense of humor, whatever it is--instead of deleting you, what I want to do is study you, because maybe we can glean information--not just how to move people up to the average, but how we can move the entire average up at our companies and schools worldwide."
Changing the lens through which our brain views the world makes all the difference, according to Achor. He says only 25% of job successes are predicted by IQ. 75% of job successes are predicted by optimism level, social support and ability to see stress as a challenge instead of a threat.
The brain at positive is 31% more productive than at negative, neutral or stressed. Dopamine (released in a positive mindset) turns on all the learning centers in the brain, allowing us to adapt to the world in a different way. Achor makes several suggestions to rewire our brains for greater success and I hope you'll make time for the 12 minutes in which he shares all this as it's really fascinating. It's always a helpful reminder to see the attitude of gratitude wisdom framed in a different way, but this TEDx has a more scientific slant and quick-witted humor I really enjoyed. I highly recommend watching and possibly sharing with your groups, staff, etc. if you have the chance.
Today's Quote:
"When we fill our thoughts with the right things, the wrong ones have no room to enter."
-- Joyce Meyer
