ABCD (resist the urge to hum along with the Jackson Five) is a well established framework and tool that comes out of positive psychology – it can be used to build optimism, positivity and resilience. As a manager coaching people through tough and uncertain times it’s worth remembering the ABCD of how to get people to think more positively – you can apply it in individual conversations and in a team discussion.
- Adversity – we encounter it and react to it
- Belief – our reactions create and are conditioned by a set of beliefs
- Consequences – the beliefs are the cause of what we do or feel or think next. Often actions or thoughts reinforce the Belief set.
- Dispute – if you want to change the Consequences dispute the Beliefs: the perception and interpretation of facts, the inferences and assumptions etc
Use the framework to talk through critical incidents and get to the really helpful discussion:
How could you challenge and change the habitual beliefs that follow adversity?
- What’s the evidence for your belief?
- Are you catastrophising – imagining the worst?
- Is there another way of looking at it?
- Is it useful to think about this now?
