Masaya Mori Original Japanese created in 2006

2 • Positive Salad Bar (PSB) methodology originated during a project for a certain client. • Every week, we had lunch at the same buffet restaurant. Through continuous discussions about how to improve communication, this new approach to team/organizational communication was devised.

3 • Copyrights to Positive Salad Bar reside with Masaya Mori. However, there is no limit on its usage. • As long as you state that the rights are reserved for Masaya Mori, you are freely permitted to distribute and use this document (and revise it within the originally intended scope).

4 1. We focus on the positive feelings of each individual. 2. Each person identifies the specific positive feelings that satisfy them, and shares with others. 3. Through sharing, we think about the way the organization itself functions. 4. This is a completely original method of communication for working in groups.

5 Salad Bar ＝ Work/organization Salad ＝ Positive feelings that you obtain through your work/organization (e.g. fulfillment, security)

6 When you go up to the salad bar, you take the things that you want to eat. Work is really like a salad bar. If, through your work, you can put together a salad that everyone wants to eat, then this would be a “job well done”. What kind of salad do you want to eat? This is not about specific things, results or tasks – this is referring to positive feelings. A sense of achievement, or being believed in, etc. To truly understand what somebody really wants, we need to focus not on things or results, but on the positive feelings that arise from such.

7 Why should we focus on positive feelings? Suppose there were two people A & B who both said that they wished they had more money. But in fact, what A desires is the economic freedom i.e., the sense of liberation that he can achieve once he has more money, whereas B wants the feeling of living a superior lifestyle to others. Maybe there are two people C & D that both want to work in sales. For C, the reason may be the feeling of satisfaction from constantly communicating with many different people. But for D, it may be the sense of achievement she gets from beating the competitor by selling more products than them. In other words, even when the thing we want is the same, the feeling we are aiming to get out of it may be different.

8 So, by thinking about: ・What kind of salad you want to eat (=how you want to feel) ・Is it fulfillment, a sense of belonging, or a feeling of camaraderie? ・Does your work/organization provide the ingredients for that salad? (e.g., excitement, sense of security) ・Is it a good positive salad bar? We can think about what our work or organization should be like.

9 For example, the positive salad that E wants to eat is: ・Recognition of their contribution ・Appreciation ・Team spirit On the other hand, the positive salad that F wants to eat is: ・Sense of achievement ・Being looked after by colleagues ・The joy of being involved in new things and ideas Discuss amongst yourselves, and think back on your own experience to find your own positive salad. Sharing that within your organization is the first step to making your work or organization into a good salad bar.

10 Self- development Solidarity Freedom/ liberation Excitement Trust Togetherness Sense of fulfillment Intellectual discovery Ease Protected Stability Adventure Sense of achievement Novelty Gratitude Respect Comfort/ security Fun Realization Depended on Euphoria Appreciated Recognition/ Affirmation Visible creation Accomplishment

11 What kind of positive salad do you want to eat? • Write down 3 ingredients When did you get to eat such a salad? • Give 3 cases What actions are needed to eat such a salad in future? • Give 3 examples of actions

12 • Discuss the kind of positive salad that each person would like to eat. • Through this, you can learn what is important to each person and their values, so mutual understanding of group members is deepened. • As such, the team’s sense of togetherness increases, and group work goes well, hopefully!

13 The following might also be good to discuss. • When is it that you feel like work is going well? • When do you feel like you did a good job? • When do you feel like you’re contributing to the organization? • etc.

14 • The positive feelings of an individual were previously only considered by that individual alone and did not go beyond that. • In Positive Salad Bar, we bring these positive feelings out in the open - actively focusing on and sharing them. In doing so, within the organization we can develop a feeling of trust needed for people to work.

15 • It can be very, very difficult to identify your desired positive feelings and express them in words. This is especially so when you are busy at work or when the organization is under pressure. • Putting your positive feelings into words is not just a one time action. Therefore, the important thing is to get used to expressing feelings. • As you come to understand yourself and your organization more, the positive feelings that you can express will change.

16 • After sharing your “positive salad” in groups, it is not necessary to reach an answer about the next actions or what the organization should be like. • By sharing each person’s positive salad, the kind of atmosphere where you can express and accept opinions is naturally created, and you can start having debates that wouldn’t have been possible before.

17 • Great. It’s been a long time since I felt so fresh! • I realized that is it a great thing to be a group that can share their positive salad bar. • Fantastic! Positive Salad Bar will make our workplace fun! • It’s interesting to talk about positive feelings. I made some new discoveries even about people I have been working with for a long time. • Great. It reminded me of my childhood when I was pursuing my positive feelings. It also got me interested in people, thinking, “I wonder what that person’s positive salad bar is”. • It gave me hints about how to communicate with my staff and managers.

18 • Positive Salad Bar is not just for work or organizations. It may be for sports clubs, schools, families, spouses, partners or friends – whenever 2 or more people get together, there is a salad bar. • I hope you can make many of the salad bars around you into good salad bars!

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