Positive Psychology at Work:

Positive Profusion Theory of Growth of the Positive Organization

Cooperrider identifies three related phases of development central to the achievement of positive profusion (Cooperrider, 2009). In the first phase there is an emphasis on the power of Appreciative Inquiry, which is elevated as a process above other forms of organizational change. This might be reflected by the introduction of some of the processes mentioned in this book: the idea of starting meetings with an inquiry into recent achievements; of inquiring into successes in performance appraisals; of replacing 360-degree requests with ‘best self-stories’, for example. The power, value and contribution of such inquiry are recognized and become part of the organizational life or culture. Simultaneously, the effect is to increase the sense of connection and relationship within the organization.

The effect of this collective shift is threefold. First, as new positive-focus activities take up more organizational space, negative or deficit-focused processes take up less: there is a displacement effect. Second, by the same token the increase in positive emotion or affect leaves less room for negative emotions or feelings. Third, the increase in positive emotion means that the sense of relatedness, or community, increases, which in turn means that the organization becomes more developed. Overall, the greater positive emotion in the system means that the organization is spending more time building its resource base, or resilience, ...