SISU [see’-soo]
It’s Finnish for resilience. Well, sort of…
Whenever you see global measures of wellbeing and life satisfaction, the Nordic countries regularly come out on top.
Let’s look at Finland as an example. They often score very well when it comes to national wellbeing, despite ranking modestly when we look at average income.
So if it’s not money that’s making people happy, then what is it?
Perhaps it’s sisu?
The word is used to typify the Finnish spirit. Whilst it has no direct translation to English, it’s best thought of as an inner strength, a sense of resilience, or a resource that we can draw upon when perseverance ends.
At Sisu Psychology we liked the word so much we named our business after it!
Our mission is to instil confidence, happiness and resilience in all of the individuals and organisations we work with.
How we work
Evidence Based Practice
Evidence based practice is nothing new of mind-blowing. However it is something that organisations struggle to do well.
Experience, anecdotal evidence and case studies are all useful when making decisions. But they don’t provide us with the full picture. Instead, we need to look at four areas:
By considering these four areas and collecting a tonne of valuable data, you can ensure that the interventions you put in place have the desired impact on your organisation and for your people.
Behavioural Economics
Behavioural economics looks at how psychology, emotions and cultural factors affect how people make decisions.
Classical economics is based on the idea that all humans are rational. If this were the case then none of us would ever make a bad or counter-intuitive decision.
In reality, humans can be hugely irrational and make lots of decisions based on mental shortcuts or rules of thumb.
The good news is that by knowing this, we can use our digital products to put nudges in place that create behaviour change and can make a big difference to how individuals, teams and organisations thrive.
Our People
Matt Smeed Founding Director & Business Psychologist
Matt founded Sisu Psychology in 2016. A psychology graduate with a Master’s degree in Occupational Psychology, Matt is an expert in the areas of resilience, wellbeing and engagement at work.
Having worked with many organisations across the globe, including in the USA, Hong Kong, Uganda, Bangladesh and Europe, Matt has seen first hand the benefits that a healthy, high performing workplace can bring.
Matt works with a range of digital products and a team of skilled associates to support individuals and help scale our interventions across whole businesses.