ABT Wisdom: January 2005

Monday, January 31, 2005

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

When members of a top team share an optimistic outlook on life, the company’s bottom line is also likely to be positive. Recent research appearing in “Administrative Science Quarterly” convincingly demonstrates that companies with teams sharing the same level of “positive affect” (disposition) work together better and enjoyed 4% to 6% higher market adjusted earnings per share than companies that did not. The study included 301 top executives at 62 major U.S. Fortune 500 companies, the 100 largest privately held companies, leading nonpro fits and a few emerging growth companies.

Friday, January 28, 2005

To most of us facing a problem usually provokes us to cast blame and assign guilt. But what if you could reach into the depth of that problem and extract a treasure – a wealth of information that could propel the situation forward in a way that beneﬁts everyone involved, exponentially! This moves you into the Affirmative Zone in which Asset-Based Thinkers thrive.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Integrate Three Key Themes

Having vision makes life more meaningful and integrated. Be sure to integrate Intimacy, Spirituality, Legacy – as you turn on the next best vision of your life. Research shows that these particular themes make signiﬁcant contributions to personal health and well - being.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Imagine It ... And You Can Do It!

Great visions live in the imagination before being manifested in the world. Start each morning with a vivid “mental movie” of what you envision to be the next, best version of your life. This includes aspects of yourself (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual) of your relationships with other people, and the way you further your achievements in the world. Turn yourself on by sharpening your vision. It will give you the feeling of being on purpose, having traction, and creating the life you want every day.

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Ties That Bind

Feeling loved intimately and having a trusted conﬁdant contribute to our self-esteem and our sense of mastery – even during high-stress situations. Studies by Irwin Sarason and his colleagues at the University of Washington also reveal that intimate ties with one’s spouse make a special contribution to stress resistance.

Monday, January 24, 2005

Howard Shultz - Starbucks

What started out as a business selling coffee beans and equipment to a handful of coffee-tasting aficionados has turned into the Starbucks of today, which satisfies the java-craving palates of millions who consume the brew at home and in over 1500 stores across North America and Asia. It was Howard Shultz, not the founders, who saw how hungry society was for a place other than pubs to gather and to share a drink.

“I’m convinced that most people can achieve their dreams and beyond if they have the determination to keep trying. But, success is empty if you arrive at the ﬁnish line alone...The more winners you can bring with you - whether they’re employees, customers, shareholders, or readers - the more gratifying the victory.”

- Howard Schultz -

Friday, January 21, 2005

You Are What You Feel

People who expect misfortune and see the negative side of life (The DBT Crowd) don’t live as long as those with a more optimistic view. Additionally, these Asset Based Thinkers had fewer problems at work and in other daily activities, less pain and emotional problems, and increased energy.

Thursday, January 20, 2005

An ABT Business Example : Johnson & Johnson

In the face of one of the most potentially devastating product tampering cases, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson, makes the bold move of recalling every bottle of Tylenol from retail shelves, living by the credo of his company. “We believe our ﬁrst responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. In meeting their needs everything we do must be of high quality.” Today Tylenol is stronger than ever.i

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Create A Positive G.A.P.

Many people attest to the fact that in hindsight, suffering the blows of their worst, most challenging disappointments and defeats have handed them some of their most valuable lessons and helped them to create a positive G.A.P.

Gratitude: For those people who hung in there or who dove in to help.

Appreciation: For the bounty and blessings life and living have to offer

Perspective: Which priorities are really most important?

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Defecit Based Thinking Demagnetizes you

Deﬁcit-Based Thinking demagnetizes you. It sets in motion the “Laws of Repulsion.” You move through the day trying to live life unscathed. Deﬁcit- Based Thinking keeps people at bay and rarely attracts anyone to your cause for long. Focusing on problems, barriers, setbacks, and breakdowns is demotivational over time, unless of course your survival is at stake.

Monday, January 17, 2005

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. "

Excerpt from "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior, Pocket Books, NY 1968

Friday, January 14, 2005

Create the Future : Albert Einstein

Einstein believed that visual understanding must precede all other forms of education. In his younger years, he was thoroughly schooled in mind’s eye visualization: seeing and feeling a physical situation, tangibly manipulating the elements, and then observing (in his imagination) the consequences of his “thought experiments”.

Einstein actually pretended to be a photon moving at the speed of light. Mentally he stepped inside the photon to imagine what he could see and feel from inside. Then he became a second photon and tried to imagine what he would experience of the ﬁrst one.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Contrition Rather Than Guilt

Sister Wendy Beckett, a contemplative Roman Catholic nun, celebrated art commentator, and media star, once told Bill Moyers, “I don’t think being truly human has any place for guilt. Contrition, yes. Contrition means you tell God you won’t do it again, you’re sorry. Guilt means you go on beating your breast. You’re just sitting in a puddle splashing.”

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

An ABT Business Example

While most dot.com businesses failed, the founders of E-Bay visualized a way to appeal to the integrity, competitive spirit, and creativity of their online buyers and sellers and succeed in leveraging a “trust based” internet economy.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Deconstruct to Reconstruct

Use Asset-Based Thinking to replace the picture you have of the other person’s negative attitudes and behaviors. Remind yourself of his/her strengths and most attractive qualities. Bring a more accurate picture into focus based on the positive assessment. This new point of view is an asset to moving forward in the relationship.

Monday, January 10, 2005

Power of Deconstruction

You can diffuse your negative reactions by asking yourself, “What would I be thinking or feeling if I behaved that way?” Once you realize that disturbing or irritating behavior is an integral part of everyone’s repertoire, you can be less reactive. You begin to accept people for who they are and aren’t. You facilitate constructive relationships.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Asset - Based Thinking 101

(+) Set your sights on what you want/need
(+) Move past fear
(+) Start from exactly where you are with gusto and self-abandon
(+) Practice as if no one is judging
(+) Build on what you already know how to do – add, shape, edit, expand
(+) When you experience victory, celebrate!
(+) Set your sights on the next step

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Matters of the Heart Matter to Health

Research psychologist David McClelland and his colleagues at Boston University conducted a series of studies in which feelings of love and affection for other people were seen to create a stable increase in salivary immunoglobulin, an immune function response. This could very well mean that, over time, loving thoughts and images can increase our resistance to getting sick.

Spending time with the people who matter most to you is what ABT is all about!

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Your Flaws are a Compliment to Your Talents

Making amends for ﬂawed actions, YES! Making amends for ﬂaws, NO! Feeling guilty in either case, NEVER! Asset-Based Thinking makes you consider your ﬂaws, shortcomings, and limitations as important to whom you are and what you have to work with. You see them as the complement to your talents, strengths, and capabilities.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Asset-Based Thinkers and Negative Traits

Asset-Based Thinkers are relatively unaffected by the negative traits of others. They’ve learned to deﬂect the negativity and suspend judgment in order to go beneath the surface. There they make contact with the positive motives that are fueling the negativity.

Asset-Based Thinkers approach everyone they encounter with a spirit of acknowledgement and praise for what they have to offer. They see each individual as an asset and recognize that they are a work in progress, just like themselves.

Monday, January 03, 2005

New Year's Resolution : Knock Somebody's Socks Off

Tell yourself an Asset-Based bedtime story. Just before you fall asleep, review the day’s events and create a story from the point of view of how you realized your vision. Recount the vision goals you pursued and how you made strides. Note all tangible evidence of success. Ask yourself “Whose socks did I knock off today?”

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