Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential AND HOW YOU CAN ACHIEVE YOURS

I highly recommend Positive Intelligence (book and 6-week program). Here’s why… I hold a Master's in Mental Health Counseling and am an ICF Certified Coach. I’ve lost count of the number of programs, approaches, books, workshops, etc. that I’ve experienced…and I can honestly say Shirzad’s Positive Intelligence (PQ) model is the simplest yet most powerful approach to personal and professional development. The reason is that he gets to the root cause through factor analysis (factor analysis is a technique that is used to reduce a large number of variables into fewer numbers of factors). For example, all colors are created from the three primary colors, right. So Shirzad has used top learnings and discoveries from neuroscience, cognitive psychology, positive psychology, and performance science to synthesize the essence of our core operating system (only 10 factors are responsible for our self-sabotage and 5 core powers that create peak performance and happiness). Think of our brain as the hardware and Positive Intelligence is an upgrade to our operating system – so that every application we run works better. You may have heard this before: An old Cherokee Indian chief was teaching his grandson about life. He said, "A fight is going on inside me," he told the young boy, "a fight between two wolves. The Dark one is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The Light Wolf is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.” The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, "Grandfather, which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee smiled and simply said, "The one you feed". This is a great example of the two areas of the brain Shirzad focuses on the Sage area (light wolf) and the Saboteur area (dark wolf). We all have both “wolves” in our brains because we all essentially have the same “hardware” in the brain. What Positive Intelligence does is train our brain to “feed” the light wolf, while recognizing that while we can’t eliminate the dark wolf, we can learn to work with it differently. The way we “feed” the Sage in our brain is by intercepting the saboteurs, building up our self-command muscle, and use one of the 5 core sage powers. My favorite part is that we can change our brain in just short 2-minute practices called PQ reps (sort of like mini-mindful moments based on using one of our senses). I do PQ reps while driving, in meetings, before big presentations, with my kids, anytime! For a technical explanation, the PQ rep is activating our parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest system) while calming our sympathetic nervous system (the fight and flight system). This balancing of the nervous system promotes greater health, improved immune functions, feelings of relaxation, clearer focus, just to name a few. In short, this book changed my life by calming my saboteurs and activating my sage. It closed the gap between my knowing what I need to do to actually doing it.

This book provides a wake up call to anyone suffering from thinking in ways that are harmful to the wiser self. The author exposes the childhood survivor thoughts and actions that are in control of our thinking. Those thinking mechanisms have controlled us all our lives and thrive in the negative. The adult thinking part of our brain that can guide us wisely, is weakened from non use. The evidence is in plain view. What is holding us back ? Our thoughts and the actions that move us to social ineptitude, once exposed, can be weakened and the wise person in us can grow stronger. That part of us, long suppressed by strong survivor control thought processes, can then guide us to become the fullness of who that suppressed wise person is capable of being. The premise: expose and weaken the survivor and strengthen our better, wiser selves. How is that done? This book is one of the best investments I have made towards a healthier mental outlook. There are some fun exercises and it’s all so easy. Nothing is free in life. To benefit from the knowledge contained within the covers of the book, one must do the work! Being honest with myself I realize I have a long way to go, but at the same time, if I never knew about these residual strongholds born out of childhood coping, I would not have had the same chance of boosting my mental health. Some readers will resonate and embrace, even a little effort helps; others will be held back by an unwillingness to know the truth. It’s ok. There is a time to every season. Once you know, you know.

A very good book, easy to read. It does what it says it does and it does it well, while remaining easily accessible and, most of all, fun to read. I really enjoyed myself reading it. I hesitated a bit to buy it after reading some of the bad reviews, but after reading it I can only believe that these reviewers did not read it to the end. So here is my (Hyper-)rational meaning about it: What it does for you: - it shows you by which mechanisms your brain tries to protect itself even when it is not necessary, as a result limiting you both in your work and in your everyday life. - it gives you easy, quick and fun techniques to help you reverse that tendency, by getting more conscious of these defense mechanisms. That way they can still defend you when necessary, but they don't get in the way when you need to move forward. - it opens a window to your "feelings" in a no "touchy-feely" approach. Even if you are a very down to earth kind of person (which I am), you should not feel uncomfortable there. - it explains you the fundamentals of the science behind these techniques, and it gives you the references of the books and researches it is based on. That way you do not need to get a Masters degree in cognitive sciences to benefit from this book (but you can get started if you want :). What it does not do for you: - as already mentioned, it is not a complete science compendium. Do not expect hardcore science. Indeed, the author is quite clear as to when his words are the standard in the fields, and to when he is using his own words to summarize something more complex (and then he gives you the references you need to get more details if you want). NOTE: this aspect was at the core of all the bad reviews I read about this book. The tone was like > "it just says the same usual stuff, just with other words". Yes and I loved it. Because that way it speaks my language and the whole thing makes much more sense that a very complex scientific language or a hippie flower power approach (no judgement there, it is not just my preference) > "this or that book explains all that so much better and in more details". True, and the author explicitly explains that it was on purpose he kept it simple. Several of these books that are so much better are indeed referred to, and their contribution acknowledged. > "he's just trying to sell books". Of course he wants to sell books. He's obviously good at what he does so why should he not make money with it? > "it's not a book about work environment, it is a book on self-improvement". Well it is both. It can be useful on a strictly personal level, but almost all examples are work related. Even the ones on a personal level becomes personal only after deviating from an originally professional situation. Indeed if you only want a self-improvement book, you may find that it sounds too professional (seems that we are never happy anyways? What a coincidence! it's precisely what the book is about :-) - it does not go into deep psychological analyses of the feelings it mentions. The feelings involved are described in just enough details to understand the process, to relate to the description (see warning bellow) and to be able to practice the proposed technique. - it does not condemn you to a hard and long process if you want to follow its advice. Indeed, you will probably find out that if you just follow your usual habits with a bit more attention to what you are doing, you are already practicing the proposed techniques. - it does not solve the problem (if you have one) for you either. Just reading the book passively out of curiosity will sure teach you something, but it won't change your life. Reading actively is still necessary. Now a warning: you will probably feel that the book was written just for you. I am generally quite active, confident, and in touch with my feelings, good or bad, without letting them paralyze me or blind me (okay: not too much). My score to the positive intelligence test before reading the book was not bad at all, although still with room for improvement. Still many of the examples of "bad" reactions to the environment sounded terribly familiar. And I mean: terribly familiar, some examples could have been written about me!! My point it, I would bet you will feel the same. So read it with an open mind, when you feel he's talking about you embrace it, play with it, and turn it into your advantage. You never get too many of these.

Set in a very realistic and easy to read tone, so much if this book resonated with me in a very profound way. Actionable steps in bettering your life and those around you.

Grateful for the timing in which I was exposed to this book and the impactful wisdom shared throughout. Simply Empowering!

I am an MD/MBA who has worked in the finance field for over 15 years. I recently decided to make a career transition into the field of clinical informatics/big data analysis which is somewhat new to me and brought with it a bit of uncertainty, risk, and to some degree a nugget of self-doubt. I sought the help of an executive coach to help me with this decision. One of the first things my new coach recommended was that I read the book Positive Intelligence. Since I am already a fan of the field of Positive Psychology, I did not resist this recommendation. I must say that this book exceeded the lofty expectations that my coach praised it for. It is a practical, easy to read, can't put down book that teaches valuable life lessons and skills to increase performance in all facets of life. I practice the skills in the book on a daily basis. I have learned techniques to help my mind work for me and not against me -- the key learning that everyone will takeaway from the time invested in reading Positive Intelligence. I enjoyed it so much that I have recommended it to all of my family, friends and colleagues. I hope Dr. Chamine follows up with a sequel!

This book has profoundly impacted my life. The assessment that is online and the descriptions of each saboteur has been a game changer in understanding why I get triggered so quickly and what I can do about. I recommend this book weekly and we are studying it in our next book club.

I first read Shirzad’s book and then did the six-week app-guided program based on the book. I found both to be lifechanging with the impact that continues to build. I’ve been a regular meditator so, in the beginning, I thought this is just another approach to mindfulness. But it goes way beyond that. What Shirzad calls PQ Reps are these cool 10-second exercises that help you to change your brain activation in the middle of meeting life’s challenges. This has helped me to bring that same calmness and clarity that I feel in the middle of my meditation into the way I handle work and life’s challenges. The Saboteur concept is also very powerful. The ability to label these destructive voices in the head with Saboteur names like the Judge makes it easier to weaken them and know that you’re not stuck with them and don’t have to follow their advice. The App and the six-week program bring a huge added value of helping me focus on just one practice per day. Like the focus on just intercepting the Judge Saboteur today. I found it very motivating to keep going until those new ways became automatic habits. I highly recommend both the book and the program. Well done!

Without a doubt top 3 books I have every read. There is a phrase that says that if you don't break your paradigms in a year, the year is due to nothing. This book definitely break my paradigms taught me that it is possible to accomplish great thing while being in peace and harmony with yourself in every step of the way. Yes ! The “No pain no gain “ mindset isn’t the most effective. There is a such much better path with POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE.

The concept is great and it makes sense, however the book is mostly filling thay is not adding much value.

Excellent read! Teaches you to be more capassionate towards yourself and others.

una "positiva" sorpresa: libro piacevole da leggere, ben scritto, chiaro e illuminante. lo consiglio decisamente a tutti. un bel regalo

Livré très inspirant avec des exercices pratiques qui fonctionnent. Je recommande!