Category: Understanding and developing yourself
Self-awareness, wellbeing, motivation and personal effectiveness — the inward-facing half of managing well. You cannot lead a team past the point you have got to yourself.
-
You Should Talk to Strangers. Science Says So.
Research by Nick Epley and Juliana Schroeder demonstrates that people systematically underestimate both how willing strangers are to talk and how much they themselves benefit from those conversations. We are crap at predicting how it feels to talk to strangers We nearly all typically predict that talking to strangers will be awkward […]
-
You Can Only Have So Many Real Friends. Here’s Why That Matters.
Robin Dunbar’s research established that human beings have a cognitive limit of approximately 150 stable social relationships, arranged in concentric circles of intimacy: roughly 5 intimates, 15 close friends, 50 friends, and 150 acquaintances. Relationships are not static — they decay without investment, and maintaining a close friendship requires approximately monthly in-person […]
-
Sources of Stress at Work: Understanding What Really Causes Workplace Stress
Workplace stress is not a character flaw; it is a product of how work is designed, managed, and experienced. There are many models and frameworks that explore sources of stress at work, we explore several of them here. Your stress and resilience programmes might just be wrong If your stress management strategy […]
-
Psychological Contracts at Work
The psychological contract refers to the unwritten, implicit set of mutual expectations between an employee and their organisation. Unlike the formal employment contract, the psychological contract encompasses beliefs about promises, obligations, and reciprocal commitments that are rarely articulated but profoundly shape behaviour. Not all contracts are written down Every organisation has two […]
-
Self-Determination Theory: Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness at Work
Self-Determination Theory (SDT), developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, is one of the most comprehensive and empirically supported frameworks in motivational psychology. It proposes that human beings have three basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and that the satisfaction or frustration of these needs profoundly shapes the quality of motivation, […]
-
Making Friends After 30 Is Harder Than It Should Be. Here’s the Science of Why — and How.
Friendship formation depends on three structural conditions identified by researchers: proximity, repeated unplanned interaction, and a setting that encourages candour. Adult life systematically dismantles all three of these conditions, but this can be overcome. Making friends in adulthood is harder than it should be. The reasons that making friends becomes harder are […]
-
A 90-Minute Walk in Nature Measurably Changes the Brain Region Associated With Depression
Rumination (repetitive, self-focused negative thought) is one of the strongest psychological risk factors for depression and anxiety. A single 90-minute walk in nature significantly reduced both self-reported rumination and neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, the brain region associated with depressive thought patterns. Urban walkers showed no such change. The effect […]
-
Proactivity at Work: Beyond Just Taking Initiative
Proactivity at work is a well-researched behavioural construct that involves anticipating future problems, actively shaping one’s environment, and persisting through setbacks without being told to do so. Many organisations claim to value proactive employees, but fail to create the pre-requisites that actually foster proactivity, such as psychological safety, genuine autonomy, and tolerant […]
-
We Are the Most Connected Generation in History. We Are Also the Loneliest.
We live in the most connected era in human history, yet loneliness is rising, not falling. Technology has created a paradox: we are always connected but more profoundly alone, because digital contact allows us to control our exposure, manage our self-presentation, and avoid the vulnerability that genuine connection requires. The most connected, […]
-
Psychological Capital: The HERO Within
Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is a higher-order positive psychological resource comprising Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO). It is linked with improved performance, wellbeing, engagement, and reduced cynicism, making it one of the more robust and practically useful constructs in organisational psychology. Psychological Capital Psychological Capital, or PsyCap, is a concept developed primarily […]