In my life as a social entrepreneur the issue of attitude has never failed to keep me engaged and intrigued. The question that why some people fail to carry colleagues along in a task that is easy while some others manage to wade through difficult terrain with colleagues following them unflinchingly cries out for answer in every sphere of life. For a manager, though, this question turns into a matter of life or death as the issue of delivery is crucially linked to the answer. And for a social entrepreneur this one becomes an issue of survival.
What is more interesting is the fact that while the behavioural experts had kept their inquiries focused on impact of negative attitude, the contribution of positive attitude remained much neglected – probably because it was thought that the restrictive impact of the negative attitude would by itself shade light on the liberating impact of the positive attitude. In other words, and using a simple analogy, if you don’t kill a person you have allowed him to live. But things are not that simple. Because there are more ways to kill than physically, and life has more meaning than one which is physical.
We know it experientially that a person who can smile even in adverse conditions is easily endeared than someone who is grumpy. But in terms of productivity what does it mean? Well being grumpy is not necessarily being negative, but being sceptic is. Those who at the first light of a challenge steps back or doubts whether he can face it is less likely to succeed than the one who takes up the challenge thinking that if someone else can do it why not she?
This is where a positive attitude plays its part in productivity. As Barbara L. Fredrickson, a researcher in the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, in her paper titled ‘The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions’ writes “positive emotions broaden the scope of attention, cognition and action and that they build physical, intellectual and social resources.” And she further writes, “Positive emotions signal optimal functioning not just for the present but over the long-term as well.”
Broken down into essentials it means that positive emotions broaden thought-action repertoire. That is if one has a positive attitude one tends to focus more, has better ability to look at a problem in its essentials without being pulled back by an apprehension of failure and can act to solve the issue faster. A person with such an ability can not only successfully deliver, she also creates an environment of ‘can-do’ around herself. An attitude of this type is just not a short term spark but being a part of her persona is a long term thing.
Anyone with this attitude therefore naturally not only tends to have a higher productivity, but also inspires an environment of higher productivity as positive emotions are also quite infectious. To quote Barbara again as I close this blog, “Positive emotions create psychological resilience… enabling flexible and creative thinking.” And creative thinking is key to growth in any field of economic activity among others. This is why positive emotions are so important in raising productivity.