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Climbing Mountains Without A Rope. Attachment Adversity Attainment. Lisa Gardiner and Mazz Hall ACWA Conference 2006. The pace of life in our culture requires that working people rush from one activity, task or place to another.
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Climbing Mountains Without A Rope Attachment Adversity Attainment Lisa Gardiner and Mazz Hall ACWA Conference 2006
The pace of life in our culture requires that working people rush from one activity, task or place to another. Many people experience this pace as a habitual state of working and living. However, frenzied rushing and multitasking can create a lack of focus that decreases productivity and effectiveness rather than helping to get more done.
The AAAAH Factor • Attachment • Adversity • Attainment • Acceptance • Happiness AAAAH Factor – Gardiner & Hall 2006
Attachment Adversity Attainment Interconnectedness Chaos & Complexity Incremental Achievements Connection Movement Hope Acceptance Happiness AAAAH Factor – Gardiner & Hall 2006
Attachment • Connection • Interconnectedness • Relationship • Mindfulness – attentive ‘gazing’
Attachment • 3 types of adult attachment: • Secure • Avoidant • Anxious/ambivalent • Hazan & Shaver (1987)
Attachment lack of awareness and understanding of these attachment issues: • Avoidant • Anxious/ambivalent can lead to confusion and a lack of compassion for the person and the expressed behaviour
Relationship between infant and mother Winnicott 1967 Relationship between group member and group leader Ashbach & Schermer 1987 Relationship between self and the manager/ management Gardiner 2006 Relationship between self and the job Gardiner 2006 Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena Mother illusion Child manager worker co-workers
What I am not mindful about • I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present. • I snack without paying much attention to what I’m eating. • It seems I’m “running on automatic” without much awareness of what I’m doing. • I rush through activities without being really attentive to them. • I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way. • I find myself listening to someone with one ear and doing something else at the same time. • I tend not to notice physical tension or discomfort until they really grab my attention. excerpt from Questionnaire developed at the University of Rochester
Adversity The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem. Theodore Rubin
Adversity Sometimes the littlest things in life are the hardest to take. You can sit on a mountain more comfortably than on a tack. Author Unknown
…and the view from the mountain gives us a broader perspective
Adversity • Avoid • Denial • Submitting to a negative dominant story of suffering • Wrapping oneself in the cloak of adversity evolves to • Include • Inquire • Embrace • Integrate evolves to evolves to evolves to Gardiner & Hall 2006
Observe these four pictures what can you see? Jack Beal (American, b. 1931) Frogs and Toad, 1971 Lithograph 18" x 24"
Attentiveness • In the last slide what did you see? • Frogs are natures environmental testers is you have frogs in your garden then the health of garden is positive • Being aware of your environment is about you being connected
Appreciative Inquiry The ‘4-D’ model: • Discover—people talk to one another, often via structured interviews, to discover the times when the organisation is at its best. These stories are told as richly as possible. • Dream—the dream phase is often run as a large group conference where people are encouraged to envision the organisation as if the peak moments discovered in the ‘discover’ phase were the norm rather than exceptional. • Design—a small team is empowered to go away and design ways of creating the organisation dreamed in the conference(s). • Deliver (or create) —the final phase is to implement the changes. A Positive Revolution in Change: Appreciative Inquiry David L. Cooperrider Case Western Reserve University and Diana Whitney The Taos Institute
Working with Negativity • Engage and support the individual • Work with the environment and the space ‘in between’ • Support positivity • Accept that negativity exists and is helpful • Apply a yin and yang approach Individuals become clearer when we observe the space in between Gardiner & Hall 2006
Yin and Yang • are opposites • are interdependent • can be further subdivided into yin and yang • consume and support each other • can transform into one another • Part of yin is in yang and part of yang is in yin
Why Should I Bother With Negative Space? Negative space is a term that has been generally used by artists. If we are hoping to uncover or create positivity, optimism and wellbeing in an organisation it is important to stop, look around then focus on the problem – not the necessarily the individual. Most people focus on the individual ‘causing the problem’. When looking at negativity we may want to confront the individual or avoid the individual. In organisations, groups, families and the broader community the effect of this action usually leads to increasing negativity as opposed to the initial aim of reducing the negativity. Reflecting on the actual situation gives us an opportunity to look at the situation in a new way. Often we tend to approach what we consider to be the ‘same’ problem in the same way and because of this we are inclined to use our memory as our first method to solve the problem. Seeing each situation as new provides each issue with a fresh solution. Gardiner 2006
Attainment • Attainment is an action of presence • Cultivates hope this leads to optimism and openness to possibilities • Adopt a daily approach - not future driven • Support the modest aim – each step is worthwhile Gardiner & Hall 2006
"We must have strong minds ready to accept facts as they are; rather than how we would like them to be." Harry S. Truman Acceptance
Would having these values in the workplace be helpful? • Playfulness • Love – warmth, compassion, attentiveness • Acceptance • Curiosity • Empathy
Creating a PLACE for the special children in our lives • THE ATTITUDE: • Playfulness • Love • Acceptance • Curiosity • Empathy • Daniel A. Hughes Ph.D.
Happiness • “Happiness is a function of accepting what is.” Werner Erhard • “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” Jim Rohn • “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” Aristotle
Happiness • Positive psychology can be delineating into three overlapping areas of research: • 1. Research into the Pleasant Life or the "life of enjoyment" • 2. The study of the Good Life or the "life of engagement" • 3. Inquiry into the Meaningful Life or "life of affiliation"
…AAAAH Gardiner & Hall 2006
Out of clutter, find simplicity From discord, find harmony In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity Albert Einstein, Three Rules of Work
