Hellooo 👋 So happy you’re here! I’m Gaurav, founder of easini. I’ve had the opportunity to work across different countries and organizations, experiencing firsthand what makes a great culture thrive. Now, through easini, I help companies create people-centered, innovative, and agile cultures where employees and businesses can grow together.
At easini, we offer leadership assessments, cultural assessments and agile transformation consulting to help organizations align their leadership and culture with their vision. If you’re passionate about building a thriving workplace, I’d love to connect with you.
POP Quiz hot shot. Customer satisfaction report for an ongoing project is just in and it’s not encouraging! What do you do? What do you do?
Apologies if the reader was hoping for a quick fix to boost customer satisfaction. But instead of a silver bullet, in this 2 series article, let’s focus on something even more valuable: golden nuggets. Namely two: Hope and Optimism.
After reading Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath in quick succession, and driven by a desire to deepen my understanding of facilitating lasting change, I reflected on how hope and optimism serve as essential emotional tools, particularly for an Agile mindset.
In his book “Emotional Intelligence,” Daniel Goleman emphasizes the importance of hope and optimism in managing emotions effectively. He suggests that these qualities can help bring turbulent emotions under control, enabling a calm mind to make better choices.
Per Snyder, C.R., author of Theory of Hope, hope isn’t just a comforting feeling; it’s the belief that one can find ways to achieve their goals and the determination to make it happen.
There are varying degrees of hope as well. Hopeful team members are inclined to “work even harder and try a range of things” to bolster CSAT. Those with moderate hope might think of improvements but lack the determination and will to act. Those with low hope might feel demoralized and give up on taking action.
Individuals with high hopes possess certain common traits. They motivate themselves, feel resourceful, and remain optimistic in tough situations, believing that things will improve. They are flexible, willing to adjust their goals if necessary, and skilled at breaking down daunting tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. This resilience helps them avoid becoming overwhelmed by anxiety or depression when faced with challenges or setbacks.
Teams with an Agile mindset possess traits like flexibility, adaptability, experimentation, and collaboration. Similar to a hopeful mind, an agile mindset emphasizes resilience, adaptability, and a positive outlook in the face of challenges. They both involve setting goals, remaining flexible in achieving them, breaking down work into smaller manageable chunks, and believing in the ability to overcome obstacles and achieve success.
For instance, individuals with hope may reassess their approach to a problem if their initial solution doesn’t work. Similarly, Agile teams frequently review and adapt their processes to ensure they continue generating value for their customers. These teams are known for their ability to adjust goals midway through a project and maintain transparency with stakeholders, including customers, internal teams, and partners. They communicate openly about the reasons behind such adjustments, often citing impediments or changing market conditions as key factors.
In the book “Switch,” Chip and Dan Heath reference John Haidt’s work in his book “The Happiness Hypothesis.” Haidt introduces identifying the two brains in humans as the rider (frontal cortex: the rational thinking side) and the elephant (amygdala: the emotionally motivated doer!). In Chapter 6, “Shrink the Change,” Chip highlights the importance of “Bright spots” and how celebrating these small wins helps us cultivate “Hope”, which is essential in fueling motivation for change and empowering individuals to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.
From my personal experience as a Pre-Sales and Product Owner at Flux7, a company with a great work culture, we celebrated numerous small wins. During our Sprint Retrospective, we recognized the progress and improvement we were making. Celebrating sales wins also boosted our confidence and motivation to achieve more. Overall, the experience was joyful, with everyone collaborating, supporting, and celebrating each other.
Part of fostering a great workplace culture involves hiring individuals who align with your organization’s values and vision. Forward-thinking companies may already be evaluating candidates for qualities like hope and optimism. To assist you further, I’ve researched some resources that could be integrated into your interview process or onboarding procedures. Remember, there are several proven methods for nurturing hope, such as setting goals, acknowledging achievements, and fostering a culture of flexibility and adaptation.
https://hopescore.com/hope-score/ — Assess your hope score using Snyder’s Theory of Hope.
http://tinyurl.com/2kazavhr — Snyder’s Theory of hope.
http://tinyurl.com/36ayczh2 — Hope questionnaire.
