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Proven in trials both in the laboratory
and in the workplace

Conventional performance-improvement methods tend to teach people how to overcome external barriers to performance, but most people have already acquired the skills to deal with such barriers.  In contrast, the approach behind Flexible Minds (acceptance and commitment therapy) is about helping people to overcome their internal barriers to change and better performance - such as negative thoughts, fears and false assumptions.

It is overcoming people’s internal barriers – and giving them increased psychological flexibility – that is key to achieving improved performance.  This is the ‘competitive advantage’ that Flexible Minds offers.

A wealth of case-studies

The approach behind Flexible Minds has been proven through multiple trials in the workplace that have been published over the last 10 years.  Laboratory trials of these processes are into the hundreds over the last two decades.

The trials are of extremely high integrity, being conducted at a similar level that the NHS would use to test a new psychological treatment.  The trials are published in journals that are ‘peer’ reviewed by other scientists to ensure the highest standards of quality:  for any statistical improvement to count it would normally be more than 15%.

The types of improvement  that have been proven are summarised below:

Job performance - Across all the trials job performance is improved in terms of output and quality.  It does not seem to matter what is being learned and the effects on performance tend to increase over time as the data is followed up.  Another interesting effect of the increase in flexibility is that people tend to make fewer mistakes.  This was measured studying keystrokes in a call centre environment within the financial services industry, where a nought in the wrong place can have serious consequences.

Innovation – In a media organisation one group was given a standard training and one received ACT training.  The programme sought to enhance people’s ability to cope with work-related strain and improve innovation.  Improvements in both mental health and propensity to innovate were found using the ACT approach.  Learning to overcome internal barriers – acceptance of undesirable feelings - was shown to be the route to improvement in performance and innovation.

Wellbeing – Multiple trials show again and again that ACT-based training will improve wellbeing on a variety of health indicators, including stress, anxiety and depression.  These trials vary across a wide range of workplace environments, including call centres, professional teams, public sector work and the media.  It goes without saying that people with better mental health perform better, and these improvements can be statistically linked in each case to the benefits of improved psychological flexibility.

Increased sales – In a financial services sales environment two groups were compared based on sales value achieved.  One group received ACT training, the other a standard training.  When the two groups were compared the ACT group managed a much higher level of sales based on monetary value (measured in a statistically valid way).  This effect has also been found in another trial in the financial services industry that is, as yet, unpublished:  this shows that increased flexibility will work to increase the bottom line in terms of sales within less than a year.

Faster learning & mastery – In a professional environment where a new product was being introduced one group was given ACT training and the other received a standard training.  In the ACT group the new product was used more frequently and more accurately than in the other group – according to statistically-based data.  Furthermore, this effect increased over time.  This general pattern has been replicated in an organisation adopting a new software program, with similar results.  Flexibility, therefore, increases an organisation’s ability to introduce new products more quickly, at lower cost, and with fewer mistakes.

Leadership – Managers are generally very effective at helping to overcome external barriers to performance.  However, when they are taught how to overcome internal barriers, then they become more effective in pursuing their organisation’s values and goals.  One group of managers who engaged in ACT training were so effective that there was a direct impact on the bottom line within just nine months.

Improved attendance – Absenteeism is another, very obvious barrier to performance.  In a call centre environment where staff have low ‘job control’, another experiment was conducted to look at the effect of the use of ACT on absence rates.  In this study the process of change was carefully studied and the lower absence rates were linked to higher psychological flexibility.  Reduction in absence has also been measured in a public sector environment for workers who were a risk for longer-term disability.  In both cases flexibility was linked to much higher attendance, with ensuing savings for the organisations.