In March of 2010, I read an article in an airport about the all-hands hacking parties that Facebook does with all its employees with the intention of making Facebook better and better. Almost two years later, we launched a new class that all 70 to 80 graduate students in the Department of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University would take and all 4 professors would teach.  Last night was the start.  It was amazing.  Many of our alumni even came back to come to this event.  I have to admit that after 17 years as a professor, something profound happened for me.  I saw the power of letting go of my own desire to control how learning happens, and seeing the possibilities that emerge when you release the beast that is the leader and learner within each of us.  It may have been the best classroom experience of my life, and all we did was create the “swimming pool” within which to swim, and then we jumped in.  Our intention is to tackle the most interesting, challenging, and very real questions facing work, employers, employees, and real people in the coming years. We said we would measure our success by a few things:

1. The amount of buzz in the room.
2. The extent to which 2/3 of the people in the room loved it, and the other 1/3 hated it (hoping that the 1/3 changes each week).
3. And by the number of outsiders who aren’t even enrolled who come (given that 15 alums showed up, I think it was a good start).

Here is just a small taste of the questions we addressed at the start…..

What is the psychology of the consumer of the future?

Is Social Networking changing everything?

What do we do when 80% of the workforce are contract employees?

What happens when China and India are the biggest world economies?

What does the world look like if 75% of all employees are overqualified and over-educated for the jobs they have?

Which is more important—character or competence?

What if doing the right thing doesn’t increase your ROI?

Should work be fun?

Can you speed up how fast a person learns?

What do faith, hope, and love have to do with ROI?

What does online gaming have to do with how I behavior at work?

How can I be effective when work is more complex than I can ever understand

What are you willing to sacrifice to make your organization succeed?

Been there, never done this.  How does I/O Psychology make a difference in 2015?

Where will we go next?  Come and join us and check it out.  We will all learn something.  You can decide if you fall into the 2/3 or 1/3J

Rob McKenna, Ph.D.

Chair, Dept. Of Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Seattle Pacific University

Director of Research and Assistant Professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology

 The Art of Choosing, 2010 by Sheena Iyengar, Ph.D. (http://www.columbia.edu/~ss957/)

 This blog entry is the first of a series of installments, reviewing this book.

Introduction

The Art of Choosing is not about how to make better decisions. Quite the contrary, it presents evidence suggesting that decision making is much more complicated than it appears at first blush. This should not be surprising because in the realm of social psychology (i.e., the study of human cognition and behavior in social contexts), nothing is ever simple.  I was attracted to the book because of my own partiality to the field of social psychology—which comprises the foundation of I/O Psychology.

About the Author

Although the Dr. Iyengar has studied under some famous social psychologists like Martin Seligman, Mark Lepper, and Dan Gilbert, she has a scholarly track record that demonstrates her competency as a researcher in her own right—currently a professor at Columbia University. She was born to Sikh parents who immigrated to the U.S. before she was born. Early in life, she was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that left her blind by the time she was a teenager.

Why Does Choice Matter?

Dr. Iyengar opens the book with a claim that choice is an integral part of what makes us human.  Uh, but wait a second…..even animals like to have choice!  At this point in the narrative, the author describes the perfect hotel that is specifically designed to meet your every need. It has endless varieties of every activity you can imagine and hotel staff ready to wait on you 24/7. For hypothetical purposes, the reader is asked to assume that every single conceivable need s/he could possibly have will be ultimately satisfied.

So, what’s the catch? What could possibly taint this perfect picture?  Who wouldn’t automatically snatch up the opportunity to live this beautiful life?

Well…..what if you knew that once you checked into this fabulous hotel, you could never….ever …..check out?  You must stay…..and never leave….until your last day. Most individuals would not even consider this grand existence worth the price of parting with their freedom of choice.

Interestingly, this perfect hotel situation mirrors the life that many zoo animals are forced to experience. Every one of their needs is met and great care is taken to ensure they are comfortable and well-fed. In many zoos, they will even be able to enjoy the company of others of their same species as they reproduce and raise young together.  Despite these favorable amenities, many animals demonstrate indications of stress in captivity. Often they engage in repetitive behaviors, a sign of “zoochosis” (For more info on this zoo animal malady, see: http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applied-ethology/behaviourproblems/zooanim.html). 

In a classic study by Rodin and Langer (1977), the benefits of choice were explored in a population of nursing home residents. The first group of residents was given the choice to watch a weekly movie and asked if they would like a plant in their room to care for. The second group was told that they would get to watch the weekly movie, and they would have a plant in their rooms that the nurse would care for. Over time, the residents in the choice group remained healthier than the individuals in the non-choice group. Since then, study after study conducted in the U.S. and other western countries have turned up similar results—human and animal mental health states are positively influenced when they are able to exert control and experience freedom.

Take-Away Messages

1. Choice and control can mean more to an individual than the promise of experiencing ease and pleasure.
2. Even animals appear to value the opportunity to exercise control over their lives.
3. Reflect: How does the human “need for choice” influence (1) the ways we treat one another in general and (2) ways we interact with our clients as I/O professionals?

Reference

Rodin J. & Langer E.J. (1977) Long-term effects of a control-relevant intervention with the institutionalized aged. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 897-902.

So, what does promote health and wellbeing? Five year after the initial call for more research in positive psychology, Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues wrote another article highlighting progress that had been made in the intervening years.[2] He also shared some of his recent research exploring the actions that people can take that will lead to sustainable increases in people’s happiness. In this research, he looked at a control group of people who were asked to reflect on early memories in their lives. Then, he compared them to groups of people who took on one of five activities:

• Reflecting on three good things in life. Write down three things that went well today and their causes and continue this for one week.
• Gratitude. Write a letter of gratitude and deliver it in person to someone who had been especially kind to you and has never been properly thanked.
• At your best. Write about a time when you were at your best, the personal strengths you displayed in the story, and then review you story once every day for a week.
• Signature strengths. Take an online measure to identify your top five (“signature”) charactdr strengths and then use them during the week.
• Signature strengths used in a new way. Take an online test to identify your top five (“signature”) character strengths and then use them in a new way every day for one week.

The researchers then measured people’s happiness at regular intervals in the following six months. The results showed that the first two activities – gratitude and reflecting on the good things in life – had a powerful effect.[3] The letter of gratitude led to a sharp increase in happiness one month later. Even more powerful, people who reflected on three blessings every day lead to a significant increase in happening that was apparent six months later! Their happiness levels were significantly higher than the happiness levels of the people randomly assigned to the control group. Other studies have consistently found similar results.[4] Gratitude appears to be a powerful predictor of happiness. No wonder it is a central tenant in most world religions. As important, gratitude is contagious.[5] It is a powerful experience for the person expressing the gratitude and a positive and reinforcing experience for the person being thanked! Gratitude has a pay-it-forward effect. We can all recall people in our lives that have invested in us, given of themselves, and left us with an abundance of love we can’t help but share with others. Gratitude creates a positive feedback loop. People who are kind tend to be more happy and happy people tend to be more kind.[6] All this suggests that gratitude isn’t only good for you; it’s good for the people around you and ultimately the community where you live.

So, what are some ways you can begin experiencing more gratitude in your life?

Count your blessings. Every day for one month write down three good things that you have experienced during the day. For each blessing, reflect on what you did to help it occur.

Write a thank you letter. Write a letter to someone who has been particularly kind to you or others. Send it in the mail or deliver it by hand so you can thank them personally.

Practice saying thank you for a day. Set aside a day this week to focus on saying thank you to the people in your life. Consider what you just take for granted at work and at home. To your remind yourself throughout the day, put three coins in your right pocket in the morning. For each thank you, move one coin to your left pocket until all three are there. Use this exercise as an opportunity to thank the people in your life for the big and the little but significant things they do every day.

Think kindness. Spending time each day thinking about the kindness you feel towards others can make a difference in how you see and experience the world.[7] For the next week, set aside fifteen minutes when you will focus on others and the kindness would like them to experience. Begin by thinking about someone you care about. It may be in the form of a prayer or simply thinking about them, focusing on the care and love you feel toward them. Then extend this same kindness to yourself, expand it to a wider group of friends and coworkers, and finally to people who you even don’t know. Then, wait and see what happens.

The article by Dr. Diddams and doctoral student Richard Kobayashi, Lessons From a Prodigal Father; Transforming Self to Transform Others, discuses Luke 15 and the experiences that lead to transformation.  Included in the article is a link to a video of Dr. Diddams at the Day of Common Learning.

  The article: Tools for Leadership; SPU program teaches leadership with character,  features interesting facts about how Dr. McKenna and Dr. Yost met, quotes alumni from the program, the Dean of the School of Psychology, Family, and Community, and the President of SPU.  Read it to learn more about the impact our faculty and students are making in the world of work.  You can view the article online:

http://www.spu.edu/depts/uc/response/2010-spring/features/tools-leaders.asp

Recently published books Dying to Lead; Sacrificial Leadership in a Self Centered World by Dr. Rob McKenna, and Real Time Leadership Development by Dr. Paul Yost were highlighted in the response:

http://www.spu.edu/depts/uc/response/2010-spring/features/readings-on-leadership.asp

http://www.spu.edu/depts/uc/response/2010-spring/features/lessons-from-father.asp

What happens when you put together a humanitarian organization that serves the needs of the children of the world, a dynamic advertising agency, and a leadership development consulting firm? You get the trip  I am on right now.  I’m in the Dominican Republic with a team from the Seattle based ad agency… known as HL2 to serve with Children of Nations. This is one of the coolest things I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in as it’s a team effort between HL2, Children of Nations, and RTDS.  We are here to respond to the need in the DR and Haiti, and in the process, help this team be intentional about learning from the experience.  The members of my research team have been involved from  the start, devising a strategy for understanding how an experience like this impacts a team of businesspeople from the US.  In the process, it has taught me so much. 

For more information, read on.

http://www.cotni.org/
www.hl2.com

http://www.spu.edu/depts/spfc/orgpsych/
www.realtimedevelopmentstrategies.com

If you haven’t been following the events on facebook, here’s the link. 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/HL2seattle?ref=mf

So far the lessons for me are many, but here’s a sampling. 

1.  It’s not about giving up everything you have, but about being aware of what you think you need, and thinking first of what you have.  Haitian kids who had lost limbs and had very little food or water and still were smiling, taught me that lesson.
2. Dominicans have a different way of thinking about time.  It is more important to take the time to have a conversation with you on the street than be on time to my next meeting.  Relationship matters here.  That said, that may contribute to some of the economic issues the country faces. 
3. The last 500 years have taken this country through many peaks and valleys and impacts how Dominicans perceive their world.
4. Strong-connected leadership matters everywhere.  The concept of differentiation and sacrifice matter for the leaders I’ve worked with here too.
5. Leaders must set up boundaries and take the heat for it.
6. Ph.D. programs in psychology should still require a second language like they used to.
7. I miss my wife and boys so much on this trip.
8. The dislike and mutual fear between Haitians and Dominicans runs deep, but this tragedy brought them closer.  The language barrier plays a huge role in that.  Because they don’t understand each other, it makes trust very difficult.
9. The children in the Bateys (Haitian villages with many refugees) were the poorest of the poor, and they broke me in half.  I fell in love with them.  These kids have nothing, nothing, nothing, by western standards..and they were still joyful.
10. When we entered villages, I was approached by certain kids right away.  It made me wonder whether the same big 5 characteristics show up here too.  Ironically, the two boys that my wife and I will be sponsoring were both completely introverted (3 and 6 years old).   
11. The people here are thankful when they have good work.  The idea of doing what I love first and foremost is not the first thing you think about when jobs are scarce.  Proving yourself a trustworthy worker comes first.  If you drop the ball, you lose your job.

Lessons about myself.

1. My heart runs deep for children.
2. I am more than committed than ever to developing leaders in the toughest of times, meaningful times.
3. Leadership is so important.  Our work of studying leadership in depth and developing a generation of leaders will continue in urgency.
4. I must continue to be vulnerable, and take risks for the sake of those I am accountable for.
5. I am so thankful for my job, my wife, my students, my children, my life….for you.

More later.  I will see you all soon.  Lead on. I apologize for the typos….

Dr. McKenna

In all the feelings that will come to you over the coming weeks and months, I hope that this will be a time of great insight.  Insight about the schools to which you’ve applied, insight about what you want, insight about what you would sacrifice, and insight about who you are, where you excel, and insight about why you are. 

Whether you end up at Seattle Pacific University studying Industrial/Organizational Psychology, or somewhere else, may this be an incredible time of blessing and learning for you and for those close to you.

Hermina Ibarra followed the development of junior consultants at major consulting firms. She found that the consultants who were most successful didn’t model their behavior on one senior consultant. Instead, they observed and drew on the strengths of several role models to build their own unique approach to consulting.[i] Other research suggests the same – the best development comes when people build a diverse and broad board of advisors rather than relying on a single mentor.[ii]

Besides, we all know that the workplace is crazy and full of change. Nobody can rely on a hierarchical progression up a proverbial corporate ladder. Things change too often. We would be wise to think of ourselves as a business of one, and every business should have a board of directors that provides advice, guidance, and maybe most important, accountability. I am a father, husband, leader, follower, teacher, expert and novice – all of them at the same time. Heaven knows I can use as much advice and help that I can get. We also know that we should be checking in with these people now and then. We should get a mentor and meet with them regularly. We should build a network and regularly connect with people.

Hmmm… we think to ourselves, “Great advice!” and it immediately begs the next question: Why don’t we do it? Let me begin with my own excuses, um… I mean… reasons. For one, there’s never enough time. Getting my work done takes so much effort, that getting together with other people always seems to drop to the bottom of the list. This is especially true for the people in my life who I don’t see every day at work. I know that I should be getting together with them more often, but I don’t. Second, I’m not very intentional about the people who we chose as our advisors. If you are like me, I tend to choose people who are easily accessible. I tend not to really think through who the ideal list of people would be. Instead, when I do have a great conversation, it’s because I get lucky. I get together with an old friend or colleague, walk away with great insights, and think, “I should do that more often.” Then, I don’t. Third, I am often afraid to shoot very high. I don’t want to bother people who obviously have a lot more important things to do than talk to me. I limit myself. Even when opportunities do arise, I don’t take advantage of them. I miss the chance to ask a possible mentor if I could buy them lunch and pick their brain because I haven’t even considered the possibility that they might say yes.

Okay, enough talk… Let’s make today different. It’s time to at least build your own board of advisors, and maybe, just maybe, take the first small step to make it a reality.

Reflections

Create your board of advisors. Write down five people who you would want to have on your “advisory board.” Next to each name write two questions that you would like to ask them. Some of the people should be familiar, solid people in your life – the ones who you turn to for advice right now. Other people should be outside your regular contacts. Include people that represent a variety of roles in your life. The people on your board might include: a wise friend, a current or past mentor, a trusted colleague at work, your spouse, a senior executive or respected expert in your field, and/or a coach. If you are a leader, it should probably also include a couple of employees who are deep in your organization.

Stretch yourself. Add two more names to the list of people who would be a real stretch for you. For example, consider a senior leader who is at least two steps above you at work or a recognized expert in your field who is at least two moves away from where you want to be. Make sure you include at least one person who you think would never say yes. Write this name down and figure out what two questions you would like to ask them if you had the chance. You want to be prepared if such an opportunity ever does present itself. You want to imagine a bigger possibility for yourself. Even if you never connect with this person, generating a list of questions that you would ask can be developmental in and of itself because it forces you to think outside the limits that you have imposed on yourself. Don’t be your own prison guard.

Take the first step. Send an e-mail or call one of the people on your list and set up an appointment. Buy them coffee, have lunch, come with a set of questions. What have you got to lose?

[ii] Higgins, M. C., & Kram, K. E. (2001). Reconceptualizing mentoring at work: A developmental network perspective. Academy of Management Review, 26, 264–288.

So, here goes.

What I’ve learned about I/O Psychology in the past year

1. People spend the majority of their life at work

2. People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers

3. The character of a person is just as, if not more important, than the job qualifications

4. People develop on the job, in real time

5. I/O Psychologists work with businesses to select the best employees for the job, which leads to more longevity in the company

6. I/O psychologists perform assessments to evaluate the performance and learning of employees, and then can use those assessments to improve the overall performance of the company

7. I/O Psychologists work in a variety of settings, from human resources, private consulting, in fortune 500 companies, law firms and universities

8.  Good leaders help those they lead to accomplish tasks and have them feel like they did it on their own

9. The students in the I/O program at SPU come from all over the country, from a variety of degrees, life situations, values, and ages, and share the same passion of changing the world of work.

10.The program at SPU provides the research students need to be competent practitioners in this field, and also teaches students the tools they need to put their research into practice. 

Those are some of the lessons that have been important to me.  Here’s what it has taught me about myself

1.I stepped into a new role that I knew nothing about ,and have had my most important lessons while developing on in this position.  I have been charged with projects that put me on the edge of my comfort zone, and looking back those are the situations I have learned and grown the most in.

2. It didn’t matter as much what I knew about I/O Psychology, but rather the character, attitude, and work ethic I brought into the position.  This is a lesson I will take with me wherever I go, and gives me confidence that I can continue to tackle things that seem daunting.

3.I was unsure when starting this position who I was outside of the gymnastics world, as it was the culture I had been immersed in since I was four.  Instead of trying to change for the position I showed up exactly as I was, as my raw self.  This has allowed me to grow, receive feedback, and realize what else made me unique and valuable outside of gymnastics. This has taught me to continue to be my real self in any situation.

4.I have learned a tremendous amount from those that are leading me in this position.  I have leaders that give me honest feedback, challenge me, help me accomplish new projects, and have encouraged me to lead others.  I have realized that the faculty “practice what they preach” because they apply the theories of leadership in their relationship with me. 

5.I am not perfect. I grew up in a culture that required perfection, however, I am not expected to be perfect in this position.  I am learning to accept imperfection, realizing that I am learning and developing in the moments when I make a mistake or something does not turn out exactly as planned. People have shown me grace when I do make a mistake, which is not something I had experienced in my past.

6.  I will never know all there is to know about IO Psychology or this position.  And I would never want to be at a place where I did have all the answers.  It’s the not knowing that keeps me on the edge, eager to learn.

Again, I’m not a student in the program, but I’ve learned a few things…..

While the honest truth is that I struggled to understand a lot of poetry when I was in junior high and high school, this comment from ol’ Bill Stafford got me thinking, as does his poetry.  Whether we are writers, poets, electricians, leaders, students, musicians, baristas, businesspeople, pastors, parents, or engineers, this makes sense.  Is it possible that the real stuff of your life, the challenges you face at home and at work or even the most mundane things, could be important enough for you to spend a little bit of that life being intentionally reflective about that life? And, is it possible that giving a little bit of time to actually reflect would help you get it done, be more present, deal with adversity, and find hope in the midst of the real and present challenges of life.

So, here’s a way to measure the extent to which your “life is getting attention from life.”

1. Have you documented a list of goals that you want to achieve in the next year including work goals, personal goals, family goals, and spiritual goals?  What other categories would you include?
2. Do you make space every day that is away from the noise of life?
3. Do you have a vision for who you are becoming….that you could tell someone right now, if asked?
4.   Do you know what you want?  What kind of job, family, friends, community, and life?

You don’t have to have all of these answers, but the fact is that if you make the space to think about it, it will make you more interesting and purposeful, and probably a better parent, leader, and person.