Using Positive Psychology to Achieve Change at the Team and Individual Level

This chapter focuses on how to apply positive psychology principles, theory, and research to everyday workplace activity and challenges, such as performance development, team development, and strategy development. Unlike opportunities at the larger system or organizational level, which usually have to be negotiated, opportunities to create change at an individual or team level occur all the time. Understanding a few key principles will help a person to make the most of opportunities as they occur. The chapter then looks at ways of putting these principles into action. Various tools are available to support positive personal or organizational development. A number of organizations have produced sets of strengths cards and the author has produced a set of positive organizational development cards. These various tools and resources can be used by executive teams as part of their strategy development to identify current and future cultural patterns, for example.