Joaquín Uríbarri

Mumbai • June 2013

How new science is changing the way we manage and leadThe coming behavioral revolution in leadership

Is global…… Is digital……

today’s world…

Is fast changing……

Is unpredictable……

today’s world…

the power of customers

Freeze upon decisions

Brain saturation

Intuition vs. Information

Information jugglers

RegretInstant responses

vs. quality & accuracy

Errors, frustration,

anxiety

Decision making abilities

A digital world impact

information overload

the reality of today’s managers

Uncertainty Ambiguity

New Leadership required

Fast changing

Digital impact

Globalization

How can employee engagement be increased?

How can teams achieve higher performance?

How should managers deal with uncertainty?

How do managers really motivate others to change?

How can top employees be retained?

What factors really drive customer satisfaction?

How can management decision making be improved?

BEHAVIORNEED TO UNDERSTAND

IT

issues for companies

is leadership working?

21%

41%

38%

Disengaged or Disenchanted

Fully Engaged

Employees not fully engaged in their work

Partially Engaged

Source: Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study (2007/08)

Gallup: The cost of employee disengagement £32 billion in the UK • €100 billion in France • $370 billion in USA

agendaPositive Leadership

Positive Psychology

Tuning-Up Mindware

Harnessing Strengths

Final Thoughts / Wrap Up

1

2

Positive Psychology

positive psychology

Positive Psychology

ClinicalPsychology

Ok Good Great Extraordinary

Illness

Difficulty

Human Performance

Fixing Problems

Optimizing Performance

Psychological Healing

Psychological Fitness

from strong to extraordinary

Positive Psychology …Identifying the factors that drive greatness.…Training people to perform at their best.

Positive Leadership…Positive psychology applied to managers and their teams.…Science of driving results, by optimizing behavior.

Tuning-Up Mindware

big leadership situations

low frequency, major impact

“Closed the plant and

moved production

overseas”

“Redesigned the customer

relations management

system”

“Developed the strategy that

put us on the track to

success”

moments of truthhigh frequency, with subtle and cumulative

impact

“Changed format of

weekly marketing

meeting”

“Got past emotions, chose

influence tactic that convinced ___

to support the change.”

“Decided to bring an

outsider into the design

process”

“Pushed the team to

adopt promotion

campaign A, not B”

Emotional System*

mindware

Whiteboard

Controller

Attention

Hard Drive

* Gospik, Mohlin, et al ( 2011), PLoS Biology

Try it: Elephant

IMAGINE

Whiteboard Test

Whiteboard Test

FASGMECOVKPWX

Whiteboard Test

Q: How did it go?

F A S G M E C O V K P W X

Cognitive Control Test

say the wordsBlue

Green

Yellow

Red

Yellow

Yellow

Green

Blue

Red

Green

Blue

Red

Green

Yellow

Blue

Green

say the colors******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

******

say the colorsBlue

Green

Yellow

Red

Yellow

Yellow

Green

Blue

Red

Green

Blue

Red

Green

Yellow

Blue

Green

married and lookingStefan is looking at Ana...

…but Ana is looking at George.

Stefan is married, George is not.

Q: Is a married personLooking at

an unmarried person?

Stanovich, Toplak & West (Winter, 2010), Rotman Magazine.

correct answer?Is a married person looking at a unmarried person?

Yes

No

Can't

Det

erm

ine

10% 7%

83%

Typical Group

% R

esp

on

den

ts

Stefan(married

)

Ana

(?)George

(unmarried)

situation: the words we useHow long was the last movie you saw?

short

"Long" "Short"80

90

100

110

120

Min

ute

s

(avg

)

Mode: 120

Mode: 90

Emotional System

Sneaky

mindwarethe basis of our

thinking

Whiteboard

Controller

Spotlight

Hard DriveLow Power

+ hard to move

Noisy

Too Small

Loses Control

+ poor multi-t

asking

Cognitive Limitations

Not only ……..

But we also

have……..

Limited

control over our

reflexive behaviors

judgments about peoplereflexive reactions

emotions…

+

reflexive behaviors

33

Defaults that worked in World 0.0

…don’t always work now.

reflexes and riskGiven €1000

Get €500 more, for sure.

Get €1000 or €0 (50/50%)

Given €2000Give up €500 for sure.

Give up €1000 or €0 (50/50%)

A

B

A

B

reflexes and risk

Sure Thing

Risky Bet

94%

6%% P

art

ic-

ipan

ts

Sure Thing

Risky Bet

28%

72%

% P

art

icip

an

ts

Getting More

Giving Up

wired for negativesimple finding, worth a Nobel Prize

36

GainLoss

Pleasure

+500

-500

Pain

moving reference

Negatives hurt

2-3x as much

as positives please.Employee Feedback?

Source: Kahneman & Tversky (1979), Econometrica.

Costs

moment of truth

Costs

Benefits

BENEFITS• Often delayed• Often less certain• Often harder to

“simulate”• Often less quantifiable

COSTS• Often immediate• Often certain• Often easy to “simulate”• Often easy to quantify

2-3x(psychological

multiplier)

Your Proposal

Trend

impact on behavior1

2

3

learn to identify moments of truthgreater awareness provides foundation for doing better.

better understand reflexive behaviorsdesign teams, work processes to maximize use of strengths.

tune and train mindwaremindfulness, self-regulation, practical exercises.

4 shift from reflexive to effective behaviorsleveraging science of habit formation and change.

Harnessing Strengths

…it’s a science

strengthsbraverycreativity

caution curiosityfairness

gratitudefuture-mindedness

teamwork

authenticity

humility

open-mindednesskindness energyperseveranceappreciation of excellence

forgiveness

humorlearningperspectivecommand

self-regulationsocial-intelligencepurpose

return on development

what research is showing

Series1 Development Ef-

fort

Perf

orm

an

ce

WeaknessTrajectory

StrengthTrajectory

change in emphasisStrengths• Identify (there are

tools)• Develop• Maximize use• Don’t over-use

Weaknesses• Identify• Accept• Develop to minimum required

Learn to use strengths…

… to work around weaknesses.

examplesWho: Toyota's North American Parts Centre

Fact: 400 employees went through strengths-based interventions: 1-year later, per-person-productivity at the warehouse increased by 6% (normal variation 1%)

Connelly, 2002 Who: Wachovia Bank

Fact: Increase in performance of 13% with a group of employees who they positively engaged in the purpose of the Bank vs. a control group who wasn’t positively motivated.

Harter & Schmidt, 2002 Who: Zappos.com

Fact: Implemented positive management approaches , became “Top 25 companies to work for” (Fortune) , reached $1b sales target, acquired by Amazon

 Financial Times,2011

impactEmployees engaged, positiveFact: Productivity 31% greater.

Fact: Sales 37% higher.

Fact: Take 56% fewer sick days.

Companies focusing on strengthsFact: Stores scoring higher on EE satisfaction add $21/sq.ft in

earnings than other stores.

Fact: 75% engaged employees believe can improve cost/quality/Service vs. only 25% for disengaged employees .

Fact: Companies in “Best Companies to Work For”, profits 315%.

power of strengths

they produce well-being, and performance

feel more positive

become more engaged

develop deeper relationships

experience greater meaning

feel more accomplished

PERMA

achieve extraordinary results

win-winPsychological well-being of employees

Financial well-being of the company

across levelsTransforming Leadership

Individuals

TeamsWorkplace

Final Thoughts / Wrap Up

positive leadershiprecognize moments of truth

better understand behaviortrain mindwareshift to more effective behaviorsfocus on positive developmentarchitect teams, functions, organization

… to allow people to perform at their peak.

positive executive education

Behavioral Decision Making Managing Ambiguity & Uncertainty Developing Individual Strengths Positive Methods for High Performing Teams Positive Approaches to Innovation &

Creativity Psychology of Leadership & Change …others.

Translating science…

…into practical training for managers.

TH

AN

K Y

OU

...LEAD POSITIVE

Email Joaquin.Uribarri@ie.edu