Humanist Thought of the Week

Fixing a toxic workplace and surviving to tell the tale

It's possible to fix toxic workplaces. I've done it multiple times. It isn't easy to do though and - if you try, the toxic people will attack you. You can survive this and I have. In this video - I share a personal story I don't talk about much, to let you know how bad it can be but more importantly - that you can get through this and that it's worth it. https://humanistlearning.com/category/bullyingharassment/

What is Ideal?

What’s ideal might not be realistic, but it’s still worth thinking about

Positive Psychology - and the words "No" and "Stop"

Spoke to teacher, she asked about positive psychology – not allowed to use the word no or stop – as they are negative.

First – words aren’t negative. They are just arbitrary sounds. How you respond can be positive, negative or neutral.

Second, if you positively reinforce a word – it becomes positive, not negative.

Third, Stop and No – should be used as deltas and positively reinforced when the child or person responds positively to it – that’s how you create a positive association with the word instead of a negative one.

Fourth – you may not be able to totally do this – as others probably do use these words as negatives and negatively reinforce them.

Regardless – you do need delta’s and bridges. You just aren’t supposed to respond to a positive response to a delta using a negative response. You want to positively respond to the correct behavior once a delta is issued. All a delta is – is – that wasn’t correct – stop and reset.

Basically focusing on the words and not whether you are positively or negatively responding to them – IS the problem.

Finally – this isn’t “new” – behavioralists have been studying this forever. Every time I come across a positive parenting or positive psychology person – it’s like – they just discovered behavioral psychology – read up on it and don’t fully understand it – but they start teaching it anyway.

I was apprenticed in this and it’s frustrating to listen to teachers who have been through a positive psychology training – a person with a background in clinical psychology a) not have been exposed to behavioral psychology at all and b) not be taught behavioral psychology properly! It underpins everything. Seriously. It does.

 

Pragmatic Atheism as a Humanist practice

Humanists reject theism and supernaturalism because we want to solve our problems. As my friend Kalai pointed out to me - You can pray all you want - but Jesus isn't going to brush your teeth for you. There are things we have to do for ourselves. Best get on with getting the work done. 

Humanistic Leadership vs. Bad Bullying Bosses

It is impossible to have a bad bullying boss - if there are no bosses. This does not mean - work teams don't need leadership. They do. It's more that leaders - aren't bosses. They are colleagues. The difference - matters.