Author Archives: Donna Hemmert

Good Space Energizes and Motivates

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This is unlikely a surprise – we feel better when we are in better environments.  And this absolutely applies to our workspaces.  Well, Marcia Moran and I got to see some interesting samples of great workspaces on Monday night when we went to a fun event sponsored by DesignLab.  Their idea was to hold a contest for architects and have them give people a “glimpse into the future of office space.”  Vornado, the landlord, gave six different firms suites on a single floor in Crystal City.  Then, they invited the community in to tour the space and vote on their favorite suite. Each impressive space was built out and designed by the following firms: RTKL, FOX, OTJ, Perkins & Will, Smith Group, and VOA.  Right away we saw a of “infographic style” drawing on a white board that really captured much of why good space matters when thinking about Positive Business – happier employees translates to a positive impact on morale, culture and even the bottom line.… …

Illusion of Control Bias and Related Leadership Snafus

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Part 5 in our “Cognitive Bias and Leadership” On our January 16, 2013 blog, I gave an overview of cognitive bias (our tendency to filter information through our own past experiences, likes, and dislikes) and surmised that it can lead to judgments that are faulty.  We have been exploring how these biases affect the ability to lead and make good decisions. In the fifth in our series, I am expanding on the Illusion of Control Bias – the tendency to overestimate your degree of influence over external events. The classic example is gambling…think someone who is convinced they have a system for choosing the right random Keno or lottery numbers. This cognitive bias is a particularly interesting bias to me because unlike other biases, this one has an interesting upside.   It can encourage people to take responsibility or to act on something they otherwise wouldn’t. Consider entrepreneurship, which requires real risk taking – the chances of… …

Upcoming Meetup on Positive Diversity with M.E. Hart

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Positive Diversity: Lose Labels, See Past Stereotypes, Build a Brilliant Team Research shows that Diverse Teams are stronger in Innovation and Creativity. Selecting the right people is especially critical for small businesses and startups, where every individual represents a significant investment and a large percentage of your company. Identifying people with the skills and qualifications needed – that’s the easier part. The harder part comes next. Who will be a good fit for the culture you want to create? Will their work style compliment or conflict with other team members? And what about character? The science of Positive Psychology is giving us new insights and can help us in a process of answering the ever burning question: “How do I know if I’m picking the right person?” At our  Meetup on November 7th, M.E. Hart will lead us in exploring… …

Anchoring Bias and Positive Leadership

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Part 4 in our “Cognitive Bias and Leadership” Series On our January 16, 2013 blog, we gave an overview of cognitive bias (our tendency to filter information through our own past experiences, likes, and dislikes) and surmised that it can lead to faulty judgments. So much of positive leadership hinges on good decision making, which, of course, affects company culture and workplace happiness. So, let’s expand the discussion. In the fourth of our series, I am going to talk about the Anchoring Bias. This bias is the tendency to favor a piece of information and “anchor on” or favor that information when making decisions, even though it may have no logical relevance to the decision at hand. With the Anchoring Bias, the information becomes our reference point to evaluate and make decisions. And, as you might guess, this can lead… …

Cognitive Bias: Confirmation Bias

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Part 3 in our “Cognitive Bias and Leadership” Series “Don’t believe everything you think.” On our January 16, 2013 blog, we gave an overview of cognitive bias (our tendency to filter information through our own past experiences, likes, and dislikes) and surmised that it can lead to judgments that are faulty.  So much of positive leadership is about good decision making so we really wanted to expand on different biases. In the third of our series, I am going to talk about Confirmation Bias – the tendency to give more weight to information that confirms we already believe to be true. Fact is, we actually seek information or evidence to confirm our existing beliefs.  And as we hear information that confirms what we believe, we feel good – rewarded and validated. As it turns out, the confirmation bias is one of the most common cognitive biases.  And it’s not hard to see why.  We like to be right.  And having to… …

Shannon Polly Presents “Change Is Not A Dirty Word,” 3rd Session in Popular Well-being the Workplace Series

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Shannon Polly to Present “Change Is Not A Dirty Word,” a look at how Appreciative Inquiry is used to evaluate past and present capacities to amplify organizational strengths, achievements, assets, unexplored potentials, and innovations. April 10—Positive Business DC today announced that Shannon Polly will share the methodology associated with positive organizational change known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as well as recent insights from AI Summits in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Polly, a Co-founder of Positive Business DC, holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, a rather rare degree that only about 300 people have earned to-date. Polly’s presentation, Change Is Not A Dirty Word, is the third in Positive Business DC’s Well-being in the Workplace Series, and is being held at at Canvas on April 24. April 10—Positive Business DC today announced that Shannon Polly will… …

Join us on April 24th for Change is Not a Dirty Word by Shannon Polly

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On April 24, our own Shannon Polly, co-founder of Positive Business DC (PBDC), will be presenting Change is Not a Dirty Word, the 3rd in our speaker series Well-being in The Workplace.  Shannon (@ShannonPolly) is one of only approximately 300 people in world who has received a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Martin Seligman and has been an assistant instructor in the MAPP program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a contributor to the book, Positive Psychology at Work, has developed curriculum for the higher education version of the movie, Happy and has been a facilitator for the Master Resiliency Training (MRT) program for the U.S. Army. Shannon will be sharing the methodology associated with positive organizational change known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as well as recent insights from AI Summits in Cleveland and Cincinnati.  Interestingly, for… …

Webinar for Coaches and Career Counselors

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Shannon Polly, one of our co-founders, and Louisa Jewell are hosting one of their most popular Webinar series starting next week. Both women, from Accentuate Consulting, are MAPPs, holding the Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.  This makes them two of only a few hundred people who hold this degree. The series, titled “Positive Psychology for Career Counselors and Coaches,” will offer Career Counselors and Coaches practical techniques to incorporate positive psychology into their practices and apply it to help their clients flourish.  If you haven’t met Shannon, as a friend and co-founder myself, I can tell you that Shannon is a very engaging facilitator.  That is often the takeaway from those who see her and Louisa in action. The Webinar will include the latest techniques including how to help your clients utilize what we know… …

Cognitive Bias: Negativity Bias

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On our December 10, 2012 blog, we gave an overview of cognitive bias (our tendency to filter information through our own past experiences, likes, and dislikes) and surmised that it can lead to judgments that are faulty. So much of leadership is about good decision making so we really wanted to expand on different biases. In the second of our series, I am going to talk about Negativity Bias – the tendency to give more weight to negative information than positive information. Continue reading →

Cognitive Bias and Leadership Introduction and Overview

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Part 1 of our “Cognitive Bias and Leadership” Series What is cognitive bias and what the heck does it have to do with leadership? A cognitive bias is our tendency to filter information through our own past experiences, likes, and dislikes. This means we have a tendency to make judgments that are faulty…and faulty in predictable ways. Of course anything that affects our judgments and decision making will ultimately affect our ability to effectively lead. In this blog, I am going to give a quick definition of some of the cognitive biases to be aware of in the workplace. The following could significantly impact on your organization: Negativity Bias – the tendency to give more weight to negative information than positive information. Confirmation Bias – the tendency to search for or interpret information that confirms what we already think or… …

Positively Profitable– Be Happy, Work Better

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If you want to increase profits, you might want to check out the field of positive psychology. Continue reading →