The Strength Switch

I had met Marty when he came to Australia to establish a positive psychology approach at a school near the University of Melbourne, where I work. I had just transferred to the Melbourne Graduate School of Education from the School of Economics and Business, where as an organisational psychologist I’d been studying and consulting for organisations on integrating positive psychology into the workplace, particularly on how focusing on strengths as opposed to weaknesses could improve performance. Basically, I’d swapped offices for classrooms, senior execs for teachers, and workers for school kids. I was also leading the establishment of our Centre for Positive Psychology, a dedicated facility that was a first for Australia, for the university, and for me.

Marty and I were talking about how effective school systems could be for introducing positive psychology to children so kids could do better in school, feel better about themselves, and become adults who will shape a society empowered by positive psychology.

But as a psychologist and parent of two children, I knew that, in the infinite ways parents connect with children every day, families are by far the most powerful positive psychology delivery system of all.

The question was how to reach them.

Our conversation went something like this:

Me: It’s great that we’re doing this in schools. But what happens when kids go home? I’m using a strength- based approach with my kids, and I’ve seen the benefits. Someone should do the research that would inform parents about this.

Marty: Why don’t you do it?

Me: But I’m an organisational psychologist, not a parenting expert.

Marty: You’re raising your children this way, you’re a qualified psychologist, and you’re working with kids in schools. So why not you?

I think that’s when I suddenly noticed that my wineglass needed a refill!

Despite initially avoiding Marty’s question, it followed me all the way home on the thirty- hour flight to Melbourne: Why not me? Maybe I could do it. Maybe I should do it. If I do it, I’ll be helping a lot of parents and kids. By the time the plane landed, I knew that bringing strength principles into families’ lives was something I had to do.