Er zijn 17 nieuwe berichten op de solution focused change weblog waaronder een serie berichten over de rol en haalbaarheid van geluk. Hieronder staan korte beschrijvingen van de berichten.
How good does it get ? (5) – Is happiness relevant and attainable at all?The previous posts have argued that total peace of mind will never exist for anybody and they have pointed at the inevitability of tensions and problems. Then, it was suggested that progress is crucial for finding a certain degree of happiness in life. Before exploring this, there is the question of: given that problems and tenstions will always be there, is happiness a real and relevant concept
How good does it get? (4) – Fluctuation and progressThus far in this thread, I have argued that life cannot do without tension and problems (see here, here and here) and that Utopian circumstances will never exist (I also pointed this our here: Good enough is the goal). However, this ubiquity of tensions and problems does NOT mean that life is doomed to be miserable and tragic. I like what Chris Peterson, author of A Primer in Positive Psychology
Not-knowing made easierThe solution-focused approach advocates an attitude of not-knowing. It is an approach which uses and celebrates the power of the question and of exploration and discovery. That is why I like the following quotes of acknowledged geniouses. Nobel pricewinner Niels Bohr said the following: “Everything I say must be understood not as an affirmation but as a question.” American quantum physicist
How good does it get? (3) – The inevitability and usefulness of tensionsIf William James was right (see the quote in yesterday’s post) contrary impulses within people are inevitable and useful. From the outside these ‘inner stresses’ are usually hard to perceive. This may explain why people may (falsely) think that other people –unlike themselves- don’t have these inner stresses. And it may explain why we are susceptible for professionals who try to convinces us that
How good does it get? (2) – Problem inductionIn the previous post I argued that it is important to have valid expectations life. Some authors have claimed that popular psychology has planted some wrong expectations into peoples minds. Canadian psychologist Tana Dineen has written a book called Manufacturing Victims:What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People. In this book she accuses mainstream psychology of creating a generation of
How good does it get? (1) – What should we expect?Positive thinking seems to be back in style. Positive psychology, appreciative inquiry, solution-focused change, and positive deviance are some popular positive change approaches. These approaches tend to focus on strengths and virtues that enable individuals and organizations to flourish. I think positive change approaches hold a great promise. Maybe they can help us to improve our lives, our
Stereotype vulnerability research: bridging social and ethnical performance gapsOne line of research I am following with much interest is stereotype vulnerability research. Stereotype vulnerability is the tendency to expect, perceive, and be influenced by negative stereotypes about one’s social category. Two pioneers of the field are Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson. Here is a wikipedia page explaining the general idea. I find this line of research so interesting because it
What you would fight FORSalman Rushdie is to receive a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth. I admit I have never read any of his books but I like what I once heard him say: “It’s a more important question to ask yourself what you would fight for rather than what you would fight against.” (Source: interview at Nova, 19 aug 2005). Of course, there is a link to the solution-focused approach which stresses positive goals. Read
Look at what you’ve gotI found a nice variation on this quote which I posted some time ago. It’s something Paul McCartney said in this interview: “I think a lot of times in life we concentrate on what we haven’t got. We’re a bit fed up, it’s a bit cloudy today. But I like very much to think, ‘Look at what you have got. And there’s so much.” In that same interview he also said: “It’s really interesting to be grateful
Making everything 1% betterIn the nineteen eighties, Pat Riley coached the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers had just lost the MBA championship final to the Boston Celtics. There was some panic within the Lakers group. They wondered how they could ever win the Championship agains the seemingly unbeatable Celtics. They would have to get so much better and they chance to that seemed slim. But Riley, a great strategist, knew how
Requiring and relating (The 2R Manager)David Maister mentions a book by Peter Friedes, The 2R manager in this post. 2R stands for requiring and relating. I haven’t read the book but think it is a nice addition to what I wrote here: demanding and supportive.
People become uniquely themselves when they do their best work.“People are like other people when they do ordinary, competent work. They become uniquely themselves when they do their best work.” – Fletcher, J. (1993). Patterns of high performance
Acknowledgement quote“You really give them a sense that they’ve been heard; that their experiences have been acknowledged; that who they are has been valued and validated.” This quote is from solution-focused practitioner Bill O’Hanlon. It nicely shows the emphasis on acknowledgement in the solution focused approach.
The tendency to overemphasize cultural and ethnical differences“I think too many people talk about culture/ethnicity as being a bigger difference than is necessary.” This is what Insoo Kim Berg said in 2003 in this interview with Victor Yalom when asked about how to apply solution-focused techniques in different cultures. She further said: “I have a lot of gripes about the way that cultural differences are talked about in this country. My main gripe has to
Eight questions for solution focused coachesAs part of a workshop I did some time ago I presented eight basic questions for solution focused coaches. The responses I get to these questions from workshop participants are generally very enthusiastic. So, I’d like to share them here. These 8 questions are starting questions. Of course, you can respond by summarizing, probing etc. Here they are: 1. What is the reason for our conversation? 2.
Deliberate practise “Elite performers engage in what we call deliberate practice –an effortful activity designed to improve individual target performance.” – Anders Ericsson Anders Ericsson is one of the leading experts on expertise development. He has demonstrated through research that building top expertise is more than anything else a matter of long and repeated deliberate practise. Fast company published this
From activity centeredness to outcome centerednessIn an earlier post I mentioned Schaffer & Thomson (1992) who argued for an outcome focus instead of an activity focus. They say that in activity centeredness means and goals are easily confused. The activity seems to become more important than what you would hope to achieve. This is essential in solution-focused change too. Sometimes, right after the problem has been clarified the client focuses
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