Alex Linley
CAPP Press, 2008
Paperback. ISBN 978-1-90636-603-2

Reviewed by Martin Stairs

The field of Positive Psychology has attracted increasing attention over the past 8 years since Martin Seligman’s presidential address to the Annual Convention of the APA in Boston, Massachusetts in August 1999. Strengths, the focus of this new book and but one part of the positive psychology movement, have until now remained largely buried and often misunderstood. This book aims to change that.

The essence of the strengths approach is very simple. It is about what is right, what is working, and what is strong. Strengths are part of our basic human nature, therefore every person has strengths and deserves respect for their strengths. Our strengths are also, according to the author, our areas of greatest potential. Ultimately strengths are about helping people to create a life where they can spend much more time living in the A+, rather than average, zone.

A clear focus of the book is about moving beyond just academic research and understanding to application. It achieves this balance very well, with sufficient reference to both applied and practitioner research to comfort the academic reader, coupled with a strong focus on tools and approaches for the practitioners amongst us. The first three chapters of the book draw the reader into the world of strengths, focusing on an exploration of what a strength is, where strengths come from, and some of the pitfalls both of underplaying and overplaying strengths. For those unconvinced or sceptical about strengths, comfort is offered through an early section on typical responses to the strengths approach. Through chapter two, the reader is introduced to the colourful vocabulary of strengths with labels such as lift, bounceback, and contact which, at first read, I personally found hard to relate to. But this, I now understand, is to be expected given that the language of strengths is new and consequently unfamiliar. I was supported through this challenging section by being taken on a journey of exploration, by way of examples, of how strengths truly come to life when they are differentiated, combined, and maximised. A key aim of this book is explicitly to help build the vocabulary of strengths, to bring strengths out from under the bushel and into the spotlight. This is an aim that, in my view, is clearly met - and not before time.

The middle chapters of the book - chapters four and five - are more practical in focus. They are squarely aimed at equipping the reader with some very practical skills to help them bring strengths into their own life, and into the lives of others. These chapters are of most immediate relevance to coaches, in particular chapter four which looks at approaches to identifying strengths in others (i.e. coachees), and in particular CAPP’s ‘Individual Strengths Assessment’, a unique interview-based approach which, in my view, has significant benefits over and above psychometric instruments particularly when one considers the innate complexities of human nature. Beyond the very practical guidance that is offered, these chapters are interspersed with examples of strengths in action - stories about real people, organisational case studies, anecdotes - that bring the concepts and ideas to life very effectively.

Chapters six and seven are devoted to looking at strengths in the contexts of the world of work and the world of parenting/education respectively. Given these two facets, in combination, take up the majority of my waking hours - much like many of us I’m sure - I found this juxtaposition in a single text to be genuinely refreshing. I would add that as an organisational consultant, this is also the first book I have read that truly offers practical solutions to the question ‘how, in an organisational context, do you really harness strengths?’. For this reason alone I will be carrying a copy with me for some time to come. In chapter eight, the reader is encouraged to take a step back to take a wider perspective on why it matters that we all try to live lives that are A+ rather than just average. The author introduces a very interesting idea that leading an A+ life is not just about ourselves, but is about our wider contribution to others, and to society more broadly. As the author notes, none of this is straightforward, and requires effort. Thankfully this book helps the reader on that journey with very useful chapter summaries of ‘lessons learned’ and ‘areas for action’. The final chapter, chapter nine, is a surprise. Enough said.

At a personal level I found reading the book was a powerful developmental experience. In part I put this down to the way that I, as the reader, was invited to interact with strengths as a concept through reflecting on personal preferences or circumstances, or by undertaking short, simple exercises to put ideas into practice. At the very least this book will serve to deepen our collective understanding of strengths, and will enable the development of a much richer, fuller strengths vocabulary. But I suspect that the author has much more ambitious hopes for this book. This book is not just about building collective understanding. It is a call to action for humanity, in particular to counteract what is termed ‘negativity bias’, the propensity each of us has to see the worst rather than the best in situations and others. It is, as the book states, ‘a clarion call for us to reawaken the best of what each of us has to offer’, for the benefit of ourselves, of others, and of humanity in general. It is through this thread that the book holds its greatest strength - as well as its greatest challenge for the reader.

One of the hardest things to judge about any book is its appeal. Some texts are clearly important but bland, inaccessible, or too academic. Others are very readable, but lack substance. In his authorship of this text, Alex Linley has got the balance near perfect and I will be recommending it in many spheres, starting with the most important people in my life. The book is both important and accessible. It has substance, having evolved out of strong academic foundations, yet is very readable. More than that it is inspiring, clearly written by the hand of someone who is passionate - genuinely passionate - about the strengths movement and what it can offer. The focus of the text, in common with the work of CAPP, is broad, touching on subjects as wide ranging as evolutionary biology, philosophy and psychology. It is as relevant to employers and employees as it is to educators and students. It is also a book for parents. In fact, it is a book for anyone who wants to cultivate more positive relationships with the people they know, or have yet to meet. In this sense it has relevance for us all to a greater or lesser extent. In my experience it is rare to find such richness in a single text. It is a book about history and the past. It is a book about hope and the future. Most of all it is a book about humanity and human nature, and that should interest is all. Average or A+? I give it A++.

Martin Stairs, MSc, CPsychol
Partner, Martin Stairs Consulting, UK,
E-mail: martin.stairs@gmail.com