by Allen Baird PhD | 07 Sep 11 | business, positive psychology
Business is for the optimistic, extroverted and hard-nosed. So the story goes. Problem is, the story is wrong. At least, that is, according to a few business gurus and authors out there. Speaking as an introvert, a pessimist and a businessperson, that makes me do...
by Allen Baird PhD | 09 Feb 11 | education, positive psychology
By ‘determined’ I don’t mean single-minded in your resolution to paint it black. I mean genetically determined. That’s the news anyway. Scientists have found a link between your genes and your ability to produce a brain molecule called...
by Allen Baird PhD | 07 Feb 11 | positive psychology
No, I’m not blogging about the 2006 film, satisfyingly adequate as it was. I’m talking about positive psychology, the academic movement that is turning traditional therapy – where else? – on its head. Here are two new recent tid-bits from my...
by Allen Baird PhD | 10 Jan 11 | personal development, positive psychology
Happy 2011 everyone! Yesterday I happened to catch the tail end of a fascinating discussion on BBC Radio 4 about the self-help industry. In one corner was Oliver Burkeman, Guardian columnist on mental well-being, sceptic, and author of a new book entitled Help! How to...
by Allen Baird PhD | 20 Oct 10 | coaching, emotional intelligence, positive psychology
Maybe you’ve heard the saying: What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. At first flush it seems like nonsense, while sounding sort of cool. If someone almost stabs you to death, surely that makes you weaker? The phrase is from the German philosopher...
by Allen Baird PhD | 21 Jul 10 | business, positive psychology
The relationship between optimism, pessimism and the economic downturn is a fascinating one. I’ve blogged before about how some American thinkers have tried to blame the recession on a surplus of optimism, untempered by the sense of realism that pessimism...
