Dr. Brian Little

Dr. Brian R. Little is a personality psychologist who has significantly changed the direction of his field by developing the concept and methodology of “personal projects.” He makes the convincing case that our well-being depends on the sustainable pursuit of our core personal projects, an idea that has enormous impact for organizations of all kinds and for individuals as we attempt to manage the strategic (im)balance between work and life.  

Dr. Little lectures in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and is an Affiliated Scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. He holds a joint position as Distinguished Research Professor in Psychology at Carleton University. He received his early education in British Columbia and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and has taught at Oxford, Carleton and Harvard, among other universities. He has received numerous honours both for his teaching and research.

While at Carleton, Dr. Little was awarded the 3M Fellowship, Canada's highest award for university teaching. He was the inaugural recipient of the Royal Bank Faculty Fellowship in University Teaching at McGill University and at Harvard was elected one of the "Favourite Professors" of the Class of 2003.

Dr. Little's research has been recognized by his election to Fellowships in the Canadian Psychological Association, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard and as G. Stanley Hall Lecturer on two occasions for the American Psychological Association.
He pioneered the study of "Personal Projects Analysis" as an approach to the study of human personality and continues an active program of research at both Carleton and with the Harvard Personal Projects Interest Collaboratory (HAPPI).

His research lies at the intersection of personality, life-span developmental, cultural and health psychology, with a particular emphasis upon the factors enhancing human flourishing.

Believing that a prime function of scholarly research is to have impact beyond the confines of the university, Dr. Little has given well over five hundred keynote presentations to groups in health, education, technological and financial services.

He still aspires to play for the Toronto Raptors and has a personal project of growing a foot and a half in the next two years.

• 3. Achieving Success in A Competitive Environment

  Drawing on contemporary research into physical and emotional health, Dr. Little outlines practical strategies to help you and your team achieve success and deal with the stresses of life in a competitive environment. The issues he addresses in his funny, upbeat presentation include:
  ·Challenging some common myths about stress, poor communication, and personality clashes, and they ways they affect your workplace
  ·How to combine professionalism with innovative leadership styles
  ·How perceived control affects people's behaviour
  ·The latest insights into "type A" personalities
  ·Managing anger and aggression in the workplace
  ·Building the most productive relationship with your clients
  Whether you're dealing with difficult clients, working with aggressive co-workers, or coping with stress of change, Dr. Little will equip you with the interpersonal tools and strategies you need for success.

• 2. How to Build Winning Teams

  Increasingly, the performance of your team determines the performance of your organization. But how do you ensure you're getting the most from your group? In this presentation, Dr. Little uses insights based on his years of psychological research to help you create and lead teams that perform and excel. He shows audiences how to combine the different skills, behaviours and personalities of their members, reducing stress, increasing productivity, and inviting success.
  
  Through this humorous, interactive presentation, Dr. Little's audiences learn to benefit from diverse personalities. They will understand the different learning, communication, and work styles of team members, and to develop strategies to bring them together harmoniously. Audiences walk away with a new understanding of how different personalities work together. The end result will be teams that perform to their potential and take your organization to new heights.

• 1. Personalities at Work: Free Traits and Third Natures

  This presentation discusses how individual differences in personality play a subtle and vital role in the lives of professionals, their clients and the broader community. Professor Little illustrates, with practical examples, the effect of personality on communication, memory, learning styles and decision-making. However, he also argues that in our professional work, we are not always what we appear to be. Little rejects the notion that we have "fixed traits" that are "set like plaster." He argues that we have "free traits" and are, at worst, only "half-plastered."
  
  Professor Little introduces his notion of the "pseudo-extraverted" professional, one who is, by "first nature" introverted, but appears to be extraverted by others. This person's "second nature", the result of social roles and training, may or may not be introverted. But this person's "third nature" is of critical importance. Here is where we are most distinctively human and engage in core projects that may entail acting out of character. This can be the source of great meaning in our lives. It can also lead to burnout and despair. The subtleties of this prevalent but seldom discussed aspect of working lives are explored.
  
  Professor Little issues a call for a "free trait agreement" in which we will undertake to act out of character if we are provided restorative niches in which we can occasionally escape into our "first natures". Although presented with great wit and whimsy, the presentation is deeply provocative and touches people's hearts.

• Truly outstanding. . . . I thought he was talking directly to me.
  McKinsey & Company
• Our salespeople are a tough group to whom to get a message across, but you certainly did that in a captivating and lighthearted way that really engaged the mood of the audience. We have had speakers at every Awards Conference for each of the last ten years and not one of them has been accorded the standing ovation you received.
  Royal LePage
• One of the most gifted speakers to ever grace a podium.
  Western Psychological Association
• In over ten years of organizing events like these, I've worked with dozens of keynote speakers. Few, if any, have connected with the audience with the ease that you did. Your message and delivery style are original and mind-expanding.
  Credit Union Central
• Stuningly good. I laughed, and cried. Wish you could be my psychologist!
  International Association of Business Communicators
• The marvel is that while you made us fall about in laughter, you left us knowing that we had heard something quite profound. This is genius.
  Canada School of Public Service
• ...our audience thoroughly enjoyed your oustanding approach to speaking, injected with humour and wit that they were talking about it for days.
  Group Insurance Services

• 
  August 2006

  Personal Project Pursuit

  Personal Project Pursuit is the first book to feature Brian Little's highly respected personal projects analysis (PPA), one of the pioneering theories in contemporary personality and motivational psychology. The book examines both the internal and external dynamics of personal goals and projects and clearly demonstrates that human flourishing is enhanced when individuals are engaged in the pursuit of personal projects.