Evidently Achor's books frequently come packaged alongside corporate management seminars and conference keynote speeches; they came to me that way. Most such don't capture my interest except in the moment, and then primarily as a foil. ("The executive team are pushing a new initiative, here's the proposal. So what merits do I see? What weaknesses? How is this novel, and how merely new packaging?") Some few speakers and books, Achor's among them, hold my interest beyond this, are curious for possible utility with an aspect of my day job, and partially as social science with a corporate / commercial slant.

In this case, the question centered on building consensus among disparate colleagues for a task typically received as at best irrelevant to their roles and at worst, deleterious to them. Achor's keynote speech was typical in its delivery: humour, a barrage of eclectic examples illustrating common challenges, an appeal to demonstrated success with past clients. What wasn't typical was his original psychological and sociological research, and working within an academic frame of behavioral economics.

Achor never employed the metaphysical terminology I constantly used in considering his argument: universals, the ontological status of collectives versus individuals, distributed consciousness. Nevertheless I believe they are usefully applied to his various examples as well as to his concepts of Small and Big Potential.

It would be easy to assume that if you put a group of high-IQ people together, naturally they would exhibit a high collective intelligence. But that's not what happens. Indeed, research found that a team on which each person was merely average in their individual abilities but possessed a collective intelligence would continually exhibit higher success rates than a team of individual geniuses. [38]

This quote nicely illustrates both the superficial lure of typical management books (a weakness this book does not entirely avoid), and the more substantial insights grappled with despite that lure. No, despite the initial idea of thinking a group of smart-er people will perform better than a group of people less smart, a minute's pause makes almost everyone realise that isn't the case. We're all familiar with groups of high performers who for various reasons can't perform together: selfishness, lack of communication, lack of coordination, backstabbing, basic personality incompatibilities ... the list is endless. Similarly, so much is smuggled into that term, "success" -- by that is it meant simply that the group best meets management expectations? That the group makes more money for the company than other groups? Solves problems better, faster? Depending on the answer, that claim, too, dissolves pretty quickly. So this quote doesn't introduce any novel insights, though it's phrased as though it does.

What is interesting is the claim that social scientists are beginning to reliably measure collective intelligence separately from individual intelligence, and that it correlates strongly with various other reliable measures of success which are not simply increased efficiency or higher revenue, but happiness, job satisfaction, physical and mental health, learning new skills, with each considered individually and collectively.

Small potential is what people achieve (or could achieve) individually. Big potential is what they're capable of collectively. Achor's book and research outlines how it can be argued that both are quantifiable, in reasonably robust ways, such that the most accurate predictor of success for any one person is their social network. ( )

The book started with a beautiful story about the mating habits of fireflies. And for the most part I enjoyed the book and the stories (I'm finding I'm liking the stories the most in these self-help books).

However, overall, it was just OK. I took a lot of breaks from this book and found myself blasting through pages without remembering much of anything. ( )

In today's increasingly competitive world, it can be easy for us to focus on our own individual accomplishments and what we need to do to get ahead. But if we take a step back to think about the potential to do great things and create change, it makes sense that we can almost always accomplish more together. Shawn Achor takes readers through the impact of empowering others in pursuit of big potential that grows exponentially and ripples out into our organizations, our communities, and the world.

[Disclaimer: This review is based on a copy of the book received from the publisher via Blogging for Books.] ( )

The methods, strategies and research developed by top positive psychologist, presented in Big Potential, will be a tool that I wield again and again.

"The average age of being diagnosed with depression in 1978 was twenty-nine. In 2009, the average age was fourteen and a half. Over the past decade, depression rates for adults have doubled, as have hospitalization for attempted suicide for children as young as eight years old."

This statistic, found on page 22, is staggering, but even more frightening it is unsurprising. With the creation of social media, bullying has only increased. Lately, the news seems fraught with stories of violence, bullying and underage deaths which support the findings above. As a graduate of Harvard, Shawn Achor witnessed (and experienced) the depression that comes from no longer being the superstar students once were in high school. Not to mention the me, me, me, individualistic ideals breed in the traditional workplace. These feelings combined with the constant barrage of negative certainly play a strong role in the statistics cited above.

"The decades-long study in Framingham, Massachusetts, has revealed powerful findings about the relationship between social connections and our cardiovascular health. While the results of their research are far too wide-reaching and complex to fully address here, the main takeaway I had from that meeting was that they found having healthy individuals in our community or network actually increase the chances that we ourselves will be healthier." (p.40)

Literally put, having friends and meaningful social connections helps your physical health. Get off Facebook or Instagram, surround yourself with positively health conscious friends and in turn stimulate happiness, healthiness and prosperity (okay the prosperity is just assumed).

"Given how contagious negativity is, surrounding yourself with optimists is like giving yourself a flu shot against stress and apathy."

2017-2018 brought with it the most flu caused deaths in as long as I’ve been alive. For this reason, the quote above from page 73 stuck out to me. Aligned with the cardiovascular research, this point hammers home the importance in who you surround yourself with as it has a direct effect on your health. Shed the negative people like you hope to shed your winter weight, they aren’t good for you, so protect yourself and your health.

"The brilliant Amy Wrzesniewski, professor of organizational behavior at Yale University's School of Management, has dedicated much of her research to expanding meaning in our work. According to her research, people view their occupations in one of three ways: as a job, a career, or a calling. A job is merely something to endure in order to get a salary. A career is work that gives you prestige or position within society. A calling is work that you view as integral to your identity and meaning in life, an expression of who you are that gives you a feeling of fulfillment and meaning." (p. 109)

This was not my first time reading these specific descriptions surrounding our work as it relates to job, career and calling. When I first came across these three work descriptors (job, career and calling), I was working for a large company, in a dull workplace, with people that had been in their roles for many, many years. I asked them each how they would define their current position, given the definitions presented above, and EVERY SINGLE ONE said they viewed their work as just a job…that’s when I knew it may be time to start looking for a new job, and more positive surroundings.

Defining your work in one of these three categories requires some serious self-reflection. I was fortunate to realize quickly in my career that I needed to find something more than just a job. Spending much of your day in a role you defined as “merely something to endure in order to get a salary” was not only going to depress me, but cause strains on my marriage and personal relationships outside of work. Reflecting on the positions I’d had that didn’t feel like a job, no matter how menial or what my age was at the time of employment, allowed me to focus my career search more adequately.

"One of the most common mistakes I see people make, [is] with praise: giving such compliments as 'Your report was better than Jack's' or 'You're the smartest person in the room' or 'You were the best player out there on the field.' Why? Because what you are actually doing is comparing not praising. You are attempting to prop people up by kicking others down!" (p. 120)

This may be my biggest take away from this book. Having been a competitive athlete through the collegiate level I am extremely guilty of providing others with comparison praise. In banking, this type of praise is ingrained in us, our success is literally measured on how well EACH of us individually grew the overall loan or deposit balances and how well we compared via benchmarks to our competitors. It starts from the time we are born, but we are past due, the “at least you were better than that guy” mentality needs to be wiped away. Comparison praise plants the seed of self-doubt that feeds into our individualistic society.

“Dr. Seligman stated these wise words: ‘Action is not driven by the past, but pulled by the future.’” (p. 199)

Ultimately, the act of determining your future, whether it be by setting goals for yourself or the dreams of others, propels you, your energy and your motivation forward. In summation, readers must continue to strive for the goals they’ve set, using the positive techniques, strategies and insight given to them by Shawn Achor in Big Potential to pull them towards their bright, bright futures.

For the full review, please visit: http://fortheloveofthepageblog.wordpress.com

*Disclaimer: a copy of this book was provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This is a great read with principles that can be applied to all aspects of life when interacting with others, not just the workplace. I feel that this is an important read and not just for those in management positions and leadership roles. Achor applies his principles from his previous books (which are still on my to read list) in regards to happiness and success and discusses how we are so much stronger when we work together as a group and collaborate rather than compete individually. This book really struck a chord for me in that regard and I suppose that is why theatre and film/tv appeal to me on that level. ( )