What\'s Adversity Quotient (AQ)?

1. 逆商
Adversity Quotient
ELP Facilitator Meeting (Shanghai)
15~16th Sep, 2011
BabHui Lee

2. Adversity Quotient (AQ)

3. AQ - Introduction
• AQ is about how you respond to life, esp. the
tough stuff
• A gauge or measure of how you respond &
deal with everything, from everyday hassles to
the big adversities that life can spring on you
• An established science, theory, and approach
for becoming measurably more resilient
• The more resilient you are, the more effectively
& constructively you respond to life’s difficulties,
& the more fulfilling life becomes.

4. AQ - Introduction
• The stronger your AQ, the more effectively
you will respond to adversity, and the less
life’s events will take a toll on your energy,
performance, health, and outlook.
• The weaker your AQ, the more difficult it
can be for you to maintain the energy,
optimism, and fortitude required to
optimize your talents and your life.

5. AQ Definition
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New Theory of Effectiveness

6. Ascend Mt. Everest

7. Ascend Mt. Everest
Beck Weathers

8. Ascend Mt. Success

9. Ascend Mt. Success
http://www.adversityadvantage.com/
Summit 1: Take it on!
Summit 2: Summon your strengths
Summit 3: Engage your CORE
Summit 4: Pioneer possibilities
Summit 5: Pack light, pack right
Summit 6: Suffer well
Summit 7: Deliver greatness, every day!

10. The Science of AQ
Phychoneuroimmunology
AQ
Neurophysiology Cognitive Phycology

11. The Science of AQ
Phychoneuroimmunology
- Direct link between
how one responds to
adversity & mental
& physical health
- Control is essential to health &
longevity
- AQ influences immune functions,
recovery from surgery, & vulnerability
to life-threatening disease
- Weak response pattern to adversity can
cause depression

12. The Science of AQ
- Brain is ideally
equipped to form
habits
- Habits can be instantly
interrupted & changed
- An individual’s habit of response
to adversity can be interrupted &
instantly changed
- If replaced, old habits wither, while
new ones flourish
Neurophysiology

13. The Science of AQ
Enduring, far-reaching, Fleeting, limited,
internal, & out-of-control - One’s response to
external, within control
adversity influences
all facets of effectiveness,
performance & success
- We respond to adversity in
subconscious, consistent
patterns
- If unchecked, these patterns remain
stable over one’s entire life
Cognitive Phycology

14. Adversity Quotient
- Adversity Response Profile
- CORE Dimensions
- LEAD Sequence
- Action Funnel

15. Adversity Response Profile
Adobe Acrobat 7.0
Document

16. The AQ Continuum
MEAN 147.5
Low AQ Moderately Low AQ Moderate AQ Moderately High AQ High AQ
≤117 118~134 135~160 161~177 178~200

17. AQ - Where Do You Fit?

18. AQ - Where Do You Fit?

19. AQ - Where Do You Fit?

20. AQ CORE Dimensions
Dimension What it is... What it determines...
Control The extent to which someone Resilience, health,
perceives they can influence and tenacity
whatever happens next
Ownership The likelihood that someone Accountability,
will actually do anything to responsibility,
improve the situation, action, and
regardless of their formal engagement
responsibilities
Reach The extent to which someone Burden, stress,
perceives an adversity will energy, and effort;
“reach into” and affect other it tends to have
aspects of the situation or cumulative effect
beyond
Endurance The length of time the Hope, optimism,
individual perceives the and willingness to
situation / adversity will last, persevere
or endure

21. CORE - Control
High AQ workers believe they can
influence the outcome of the meeting,
even as it goes downhill. But those with
low AQ believe nothing they do will matter;
they give up and count minutes until the
meeting ends.

22. CORE - Ownership
The high AQ worker holds himself/herself
accountable for the outcome of the
meeting, regardless of the reason it’s
going poorly; the low AQ worker sees
himself/herself as a helpless victim.

23. CORE - Reach
Someone with high AQ will put setbacks in
perspectives, not letting them ruin the day
or the weekend. He/she resolves to learn
from the mistakes. A low AQ worker would
extrapolate, turning the single failure into
proof that he/she is worthless and stupid.

24. CORE - Endurance
Think of Tom Tanks in the movie “Cast
Away”; it’s all about faith that the tide will
carry something in to improve his situation.
High AQ workers know this down time
won’t last forever; the low AQ worker can
only see no good ending.

25. The Hierarchy of Control
Improve your Response Ability by framing a new,
more effective managing approach to adversity.
Response Ability
= ability to respond
optimally to
whatever happens,
the moment it
strikes.

26. The LEAD Sequence
Learn to rewire, raise & strengthen your AQ
L = Listen
E = Establish Accountability
A = Analyze
D = Do It !

27. The Action Funnel
Focus on the
action you are
most compelled
to take in the
face of adversity

28. Adversity Quotient
- 10 tips to improve your AQ

29. 10 tips to improve your AQ
1. Be a Detective. As difficult situations
arise, immediately pinpoint at least one
facet of the situation you can influence, if
not control.

30. 10 tips to improve your AQ
2. Be a Lawyer. Silently or vocally question
people who say, “Well, there’s nothing we
can do about it.” Find specific ways to
prove them wrong. Prove your case with
real evidence.

31. 10 tips to improve your AQ
3. Be a Judge. If you feel you lack control
over a given situation, try to be impartial in
your assessment. Base your judgment
only on facts.

32. 10 tips to improve your AQ
4. Be a Pioneer. Be the first to take
ownership of difficult situations, whether or
hot you were the cause. Pick your moment
and step into the wilderness of
responsibility by declaring your
accountability and intended action.

33. 10 tips to improve your AQ
5. Be an Opportunist. Ask yourself what
will definitely happen as a result of a given
situation within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Pick those outcomes for which you feel
most compelled to take ownership and
action.

34. 10 tips to improve your AQ
6. Be a Firefighter. When adversity strikes,
immediately contain the blaze by acting
with urgency to prevent it from affecting
other areas of your life. Hose down
emotional bushfires as they pop up.

35. 10 tips to improve your AQ
7. Be a Surgeon. As difficulties arise,
prevent them from bleeding into other
areas of your business, relationships, and
life by surgically clamping the damaged
artery and operating on or even removing
damaged tissue.

36. 10 tips to improve your AQ
8. Be a Visionary. No matter how severe a
setback may be, imagine life after it has
passed. Force yourself to rise above and
see beyond the adversity. Paint a mental
picture of how life is different now that
adversity is history.

37. 10 tips to improve your AQ
9. Be an Accountant. Create a balance
sheet, indicating on one side the likely
result of adversity over which you have no
control, feel no ownership, and which is
far-reaching and long-lasting. On the other
side, put the implications of adversity over
which you feel a certain amount of control,
strong ownership, and which you see as
limited and short-lived. Apply your analysis
to the situation at hand or as difficulties
arise.

38. 10 tips to improve your AQ
10. Be a Catalyst. Take even the smallest
constructive action to regain control, to
take ownership, or to limit the reach or
endurance of the adversity, and you will
immediately begin to see it shrink.