The Learnstream of Jay Cross

With financing from the Gallup Organization and working closely with Csikszentmihalyi—known for his concept of "flow," the deeply satisfying, unself-conscious state a person experiences when engaged in a challenging activity—Seligman established a network of promising young scholars who were studying positive emotions, and he nurtured the field with conferences and workshops.

The researchers asked questions like, What are the elements of well-being? Why do we feel good when we see people helping others? Does having a happy life mean experiencing more pleasure than pain, or does it require exercising one's talents and having a purpose? What is the role of community in our well-being? And what are the physical and communal benefits of feeling happy?

People credit a large part of positive psychology's success to the solid reputations of the field's leaders—and Seligman's ability to get science-supporting agencies interested.

"Marty knew that if he had money the smart scientists would come," Phil Zimbardo told those gathered at the IPPA meeting. Zimbardo, a Stanford University psychologist famous for his 1971 prison experiment in which undergraduates playing "guard" quickly began to abuse others playing "prisoner," has recently turned his attention from what makes good people do bad things to what makes ordinary people act like heroes. By changing his evil ways, he joked at the conference, he hoped to get the kind of research money Seligman and other positive psychologists had.

The figures are impressive. The National Institute of Mental Health has given more than $226-million in grants to positive-psychology researchers in the past 10 years, beginning with just under $4-million in 1999 and reaching more than nine times that amount in 2008. The John Templeton Foundation has long supported the work, and recently awarded Seligman a grant of nearly $6-million to encourage collaborations between positive psychologists and neuroscientists. Backing has also come from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among others.

The bulk of the resulting research has shown that happy people form stronger social relationships, enjoy better health, are more creative and effective at work, and are more involved as citizens. And the effects flow in the opposite direction, too: Though studies done in the 1970s found that people adjusted to changing circumstances—like winning a lottery—and returned to being pretty much as happy or as unhappy as they had always been, new research supports the more-intuitive idea that people's circumstances do affect their sense of well-being. But what seems to matter more than wealth—the benefits of which Diener's work has shown decrease the more a person earns—is "psychosocial prosperity," characterized by the social support, public trust, safety, and tolerance in a society combined with individual feelings of being competent, learning new things, and being satisfied with one's job and health.

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I was off the grid for more than half the month. So many exciting ideas have flowed by in my absence that I am feeling overwhelmed. Drowning. The conversation has moved off my map.

I know, I know. Let bygones be bygones. I should be content to rejoin the flow. Nonetheless, catching up feels necessary yet insurmountable.

The current is so much faster than a year or two ago. Blink and you miss an entire paradigm shift.

Am I alone in feeling like this?

By the way, the phone on my desk just rang. It was Bill from the Carpet Cleaners with a special offer. I’m on the National Do Not Call List. How does one extract revenge on these telemarketing life spammers? I want Bill and the friendly folks who are worried about my vehicle warranty, my page rank, and my opportunities for additional credit cards to fork over a few years of community service in return for their sins.

So much life, so little time.

Tony Buzan

An updated, streamlined version of my book on learning in business organizations has just been released. You can buy a copy for the memorable price of $19.84.

The best decisions occur when people take the time to study their decision-making process, and not just the decision itself. In other words, don't simply focus on the alternatives - reflect on how those alternatives are being considered. The end result is decisions that are more likely to be made in the right frame of mind.

One of the best ways for a president to maintain control of the decision-making process is to surround himself with advisers willing to criticize his decisions. "Psychologists spend a lot of time focusing on individual abilities," says Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at the University of Virginia. "But what's even more important is the type of environment that's set up around a president. A leader who encourages a diversity of viewpoints" - and Haidt argues that presidents should fill the cabinet with advisers from both parties - "is going to make much more effective decisions."

Personal meta-cognition, analyzing your decision-making process, is key to making balanced decisions.