People Soup - Behavioural Science For A More Meaningful Way To Work

Season 2 Episode 7 Have a listen as I have a go at reflecting on my values over a period of four days. This exercise is based upon an approach developed and described by Jonny Line in Episode 2 (Season 2). I was reminded about it by a tweet from Dr Sally Bradley who said she was using it with clients as part of their gratitude practice. This episode also begins with a bumper crop of reviews, a bit of singing (sorry) and finishes with a snippet of live flamenco guitar. Show notes at www.rossmcintosh.co.uk

Season 2 Episode 6 Dr Mike Sinclair is Clinical Director of the City Psychology Group, Consultant Counselling Psychologist, ACT practitioner and author. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation including: Mike's journey into ACT - which included a bold trip to Nevada in the early days; How he uses ACT in his personal and professional life; How he uses ACT with high performers in the City. He has also developed a takeaway especially for his appearance on People Soup and has a cracking, client generated metaphor which we could all use. Show notes at www.rossmcintosh.co.uk

Season 2 - Episode 5 Why do I talk about the skill of noticing so much? Listen on to hear why noticing is so important - both in terms of how we're showing up in the world through our behaviour and being aware of what our mind is producing in terms of thoughts, emotions, memories and urges. I then move on to different ways that we can strengthen the skill of noticing. I also respond to a question from this week from a workshop participant who asked if I was trying to create a workplace full of happy robots! Show notes at www.rossmcintosh.co.uk

Season 2: Episode 4 Ross presents some evidence on gender differences in organisations. Amongst other findings he covers 'Think Manager Think Male' and the glass cliff (where women can be put in precarious leadership positions). Drawing upon a Harvard Business Review he agrees that the route to leadership for women and other minorities is more labyrinthine than a ceiling. He finishes with a paper that suggests it's time to introduce positive discrimination to accelerate gender equality. The take away is a clarion call - to flag micro-behaviours - both good and bad. Show notes at www.rossmcintosh.co.uk

Season 2: Episode 3 In this episode I talk about mental health at work - particularly in relation to men. I share some developments on the podcast and look at my wobble over this last week. I then focuses on one research paper. The research showed that when men experience psychological distress they are two times more likely to seek support if a friend or family member has shared their own experience of seeking help. Show notes at www.rossmcintosh.co.uk http://www.projecteightyfour.com/ https://www.samaritans.org/

Season 2 Episode 2 In this episode I speak to my friend, Jonny Line, who is an exciting new voice in organisational psychology. Jonny begins by reflecting on a particular skill that he draws upon in a variety of scenarios at work and then considers his own experience of using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). He describes the three step approach he has developed to support himself in noticing when he's expressed his core values of self development, creativity, fairness and supportiveness. He also sets out a way in which we can potentially enhance our efficacy in expressing what's important through turning our values on ourselves, based upon a model of positive social action. The challenge from Jonny is "how can you live out your values with others by turning them in on yourself." Jonny's ideas have taken my own practise to a new level so I'd really encourage you to have a go. We also consider what our own personal theme tunes might be and there is a chance to win one of three sets of values ca

Season 2 - Episode 1 Ross chats with Dr Nic Hooper - Senior Lecturer in Psychology at University of West England (UWE), ACT Researcher & Practitioner and co-creator of the the 2019 Diary for Valued Action. The boys cover a lot of ground in their conversation - Nic talks about how he discovered ACT and the impact it has had on his life. He describes his motivation to produce the Diary for Valued Action and gives us a glimpse into some of his other projects, finishing with a powerful take-away. Show notes with all the links to the diary and Nic's social media at http://www.rossmcintosh.co.uk/2018/08/dr-nic-hooper-act-diary-for-valued.html This is our first episode recorded over Skype. The sound quality is not perfect, it improves in the second half and we're learning new skills with each episode.

Episode 16 Going on holiday - listen to this essential guide to the science of vacations before you go! Shannon Horan is a PhD student at City, University of London and specialises, amongst other things, in exploring work recovery through vacations. You can hear about the theory of vacations from work, get an insight into Shannon's research, get some top tips and there's an opportunity to get involved in Shannon's next study. All in 22 minutes. If you're interested in work recovery check out Episode 6 - Getting Unplugged.

Episode 15 I welcome Dr Paul Flaxman to People Soup. We talk about the upcoming ACBS Conference in Montreal and give a glimpse of the research we'll be presenting about ACT Training in the Workplace. At the conference we're also planning to share the development of our ACT in the Workplace protocol. Episode notes at www.rossmcintosh.co.uk

Episode 14 This is part two of my conversation with friend and fellow organisational psychologist, Maddy Scott. We talk about how we've used ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) in our lives. Maddy talks about her mindfulness practice and how she introduced values on a family holiday leading to an adventure on the high seas (grand canal). I also talk about my values in relation to sharing and training skills in ACT. We finish with an invitation to have a go at an exercise - a suggestion for a playful way on how to practice bringing values to life using the list in the episode notes at www.rossmcintosh.co.uk

Episode 13 I'm in conversation with my very first guest - friend and fellow organisational psychologist, Maddy Scott. We're both students and practitioners of ACT. ACT is the acronym for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which we use in our work in organisations and in coaching. Here we talk about what first caught our attention about ACT, how we got hooked and what we'd recommend in terms of resources for those who'd like to find out more. I'm pretty pleased with how this has turned out so let me know what you think.

Episode 12 Here I present some of my own research based on interviews with senior public sector leaders. In my research I explored the ways in which they fulfilled their leadership roles and experienced organisational politics - all through the lens of psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is something that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) aims to strengthen. It's made up of six processes. In this podcast I represent those processes with the triflex. Listen on and see if you can spot the processes - be present; do what matters and open up - in your own workplace behaviour!

Episode 11 It's a bit different this week - I've had a few requests for a mindfulness practice recording so hear it is - a mindfulness meditation of the body and breath. There's a brief introduction then we're straight in to the exercise. Give it a go and let me know how you get on!

Episode 10 In this episode I use behavioural science to explore the decline in my sketching and cartooning activity and give some top tips on how to apply the same techniques to work and life in general. I commit to publishing a sketch or cartoon every day for the next 30 days on instagram and twitter - so you can follow my progress. The key questions I recommend to use to explore something that you've stopped doing at work that matters to you are as follows: 1. What's important to me about X or Y? Why does it matter to me? 2. What's my mind saying about X or Y? Episode Notes The song by David Gates is called 'If'. You can check out the work of the brilliant Christoph Neimann on instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/abstractsunday/ And the book by Tom Gallwey is called - The Inner Game of Tennis.

Episode 9 Here Ross describes three of the key features of our cave dweller minds and explores how they can generate content that is not always helpful. He also gives some tips on how to take the content that our minds produce a bit less seriously.

Episode 8 Here Ross aims to strengthen the case for developing the skill of present moment awareness or mindfulness. He does so by revealing the two gears of the mind - the thinking gear and the sensing gear. Hear how we can get stuck and exhausted in the thinking gear and simple ways to access the sensing gear.

Episode 7 Do you have a relationship in the workplace that could be improved? In this episode Ross presents real life examples and techniques from psychology to allow you to have a go at changing your behaviour in a tricky workplace relationship.

Episode 6 Are you 'always on'? Ross talks about work recovery and draws upon research by Professor Sabine Sonnentag. He shares 4 top ingredients for effective recovery activities and also recommends that you consider what your personal values are in relation to your leisure time to provide motivation and direction.

Episode 5 Ross talks about the idea of exploring and reconnecting with what's important to us at work. He shares what matters to him as his career evolves and how he is using these qualities as a guide for his behaviour - recounting his nervousness about phoning a bookstore in Berlin! He finishes with a couple of practical questions and recommendations for how to consider your own values at work.

Episode 4 In this episode Ross illustrates the way our stories can limit our behavioural repertoire and provides a tip on how to change our relationship with our own stories. He also provides a recommendation for expanding the range of options from the behavioural menu. The character of Cruella de Choice is also introduced.