In part one of our series I introduced readers to negativity bias: the innate, evolutionary tendency in human beings to overemphasize negative events, emotions, and stimuli over positive ones. For decades psychologists have shown how this common bias warps the news, taints our perceptions of others, and interferes with an organization’s ability to make progress. So how can anyone overcome such an enduring feature of human life?
Before you stuff your pockets with rocks and head to the surf, there are proven ways to build a more positive and more useful perspective on the world. It begins with cognitive reframing.
Cognitive reframing is a set of behavioral techniques for helping people retrain their thought patterns. First pioneered by legendary psychologist Albert Ellis in the 1950s as Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, these mindfulness techniques now form the basis for several therapeutic modalities and schools of psychology, including Cognitive Therapy and Positive Psychology.
Sometimes called “positive reframing,” “cognitive restructuring,” or “cognitive reappraisal,” cognitive reframing is really a tool of the imagination. It means taking the same events, experiences, emotions, or relationships and positing how they may look in the eyes of someone else or under a different context. While we all run the same ancient cognitive operating systems, our minds are surprisingly nimble organs. Identifying and recognizing habits while applying new kinds of attention can make a big difference.
Maybe a hypothetical would help: You’re overseeing the delivery of a project for a client. Months ago, when you were still arranging the contract, the important client wondered if you could deliver what is usually a nine-month project in just six. Eager to please, you said yes. Now, seven months later, delivery is a month late and you’re fielding unexpected mistakes from your usually flawless teams. The client is annoyed and you are frustrated and embarrassed. What went wrong?
Did you forget about that impossible timeline? You are now so far in that instead of recognizing that your team will complete this project two months ahead of normal, you can only see that you are a month behind. Both are true, but the former perspective is much more generous, humane, and useful than the latter. Instead of frustration, you might actually reward yourself and your team for achieving an unexpected outcome and perhaps contributing to the success of similar projects down the road. Instead of fixating on what you’ve lost, you could equally recognize what you’ve gained. Maybe the client will still be unhappy, but as a leader your job is to help them reframe their own perspective and expectations as well
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