What if a thriving team doesn’t just hit its targets - but feels alive while doing it?

In this episode, I share a story from a leadership team session where everything seemed “on track” - clear strategy, strong metrics - yet the team felt drained. A leader admitted, “We survive. We perform. But we don’t flourish.” From there, we explore what it means to design for flourishing - beyond resilience or productivity - and how the science of well‑being (including frameworks like PERMA and PERMA+4) helps us build environments where thriving becomes the norm. You’ll hear how early ideas about positivity ratios cracked under scrutiny, why meaningful models matter, and how leaders can shift from reactive culture‑fixing to proactive system‑design. Whether your team works remotely, hybrid or on‑site, this episode lays out how to move from doing things right to creating conditions where people grow, connect and create together.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why flourishing is more than performance or resilience - it’s the architecture of human thriving
• How key frameworks from positive psychology (such as PERMA and PERMA+4) inform modern leadership design
• The pitfalls of simplistic models like the “positivity ratio” and the “happiness pie,” and why leadership needs nuance, not shortcuts
• How to translate flourishing into practical design levers: role design, team rituals, environment, mindsets, and economic foundations
• Questions and tools to begin shifting your team culture from surviving to flourishing

Useful Resources:

• Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American psychologist, 56(3), 218.
• Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.
• Slavin, S. J., Schindler, D., Chibnall, J. T., Fendell, G., & Shoss, M. (2012). PERMA: A model for institutional leadership and culture change. Academic Medicine, 87(11), 1481.
• Seligman, M. (2018). PERMA and the building blocks of well-being. The journal of positive psychology, 13(4), 333-335.
• Donaldson, S. I., & Donaldson, S. I. (2022). Examining PERMA+ 4 and work role performance beyond self-report bias: insights from multitrait-multimethod analyses. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 17(6), 888-897.
• Join The Foresight Leadership Podcast Facebook Group: (https://www.facebook.com/groups/theforesightleadershippodcast/)
• Book a call to work with Joseph: (https://bookings.foresightleadershipgroup.co.uk/#/coaching-services)
• Connect with Joseph on LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephwcooper91/)

Your Next Steps:

If this episode stirred something for you - a sense that your team is hitting targets but missing purpose - pause and reflect: Where are you designing for output rather than thriving? Then share one small change you could make this week to shift that. Join our group on Facebook to continue the conversation and connect with leaders doing this work.