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Celebrating success using sparkling moments

Recognising and celebrating success: sparkling moments.


As outlined in KFP1 Secure Base, a psychologically safe organisation encourages people to discuss their errors openly to consider how to improve practice. It is also crucial to recognise and learn from what we do well and celebrate success. We can learn a lot from success stories and sharing them not only helps others solve similar problems but can also inspire them to excel. Showing respect for another person’s achievement will also boost their self-esteem and engagement and strengthen working relationships. There are also wider benefits, as sharing success stories helps foster a compassionate culture.

Nonetheless, while people are often open about what they may consider to be their failures, they can be reluctant to disclose their achievements for fear of appearing arrogant or boastful. They can find it difficult to share their accomplishments and may rarely be encouraged to celebrate their successes. This can lead people to focus on things that have gone wrong, rather than those that have gone well. This is not only demotivating, but means we are restricted to learning from errors rather than success.

‘Sparkling’ (or ‘peak’) moments is a technique that helps people share their success stories.

Sparkling moments:

Sparkling moments are times when you felt your best self. For example, you may have achieved something at work that you thought made things better for someone and enabled progress. Identifying sparkling moments is a very effective way to recognise the individual skills and strengths that underpin such achievements and how these can be used to improve outcomes for people who access services in the future.

Celebrating success: The sparkling moments technique

One person (A) asks the other person (B) a series of questions:

  • What did you do when you were you ‘at your best’?
  • What skills, knowledge and attributes did you use?
  • How did you feel?

Person A listens carefully and notes down the skills, knowledge and attributes that Person B describes, as well as any key themes or behaviours that emerge from their description.

  • When Person B has finished speaking, Person A should provide feedback on the specific skills and attributes that have emerged. They then ask Person B:
  • What have you learnt about your key skills?
  • How could you use these to manage a problem you are experiencing right now?
  • What steps could you take to maximise the opportunity for more experiences like this?

Participants then swap roles, and Person B asks the same questions of Person A.

The ‘sparkling moments’ technique has been used extensively in training sessions to identify times when people have shone and was found to be particularly effective in peer coaching (see KFP3 Learning Organisation). The technique can also be useful in team and one-to-one meetings to encourage people to talk about their strengths and resources and how these can be utilised to face new challenges.

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