What Is HopeLab Insights?

HopeLab Insights, LLC. was founded with one idea in mind - to bring Hope Theory to the forefront of professional training and development.

The founder and operating manager, Kristopher Norris, is a doctoral candidate in social psychology with a specialty in Hope Theory, Adult Learning, and Narrative Instruction. His dissertation research is based around understanding how professional trainers can connect with their trainees to not only engage with the information, but to inspire a mindset of personal growth, goal orientation, pathway thinking, and, perhaps most critically, the power of agency and self-efficacy.

What Is Hope Theory?

Hope Theory, developed and first published by C. R. Snyder and colleagues in the early 1990s (with major works in 1991 and 1994), conceptualizes hope as a cognitive, goal-directed process rather than a passive emotion. According to Snyder, hope consists of three interrelated pillars: goals (the desired outcomes that guide behavior), pathways thinking (the perceived ability to generate workable routes to those goals), and agency thinking (the motivational drive that sustains movement along those routes). Together, these components explain how individuals set goals, create strategies to reach them, and maintain the motivation to pursue those strategies even when obstacles arise.

HopeLab Insight programs help organizations strengthen their workforce by cultivating cognitive hope—the measurable, goal-directed framework outlined in Snyder’s Hope Theory. By teaching employees how to set clear, attainable goals (goals thinking), map multiple strategies to achieve them (pathways thinking), and build the internal motivation to follow through (agency thinking), these programs enhance resilience, problem-solving, and sustained engagement across teams. When employees learn to think in hopeful, strategic ways, they become more adaptive during change, more proactive in addressing challenges, and more collaborative in pursuing organizational objectives. As a result, companies benefit from higher productivity, reduced burnout, and a culture where individuals believe they can create meaningful progress—both personally and professionally.