INTERNET GRANDFATHER®

Downbeat

                                        In addition to their musical meanings, the words downbeat and upbeat refer to pessimism and optimism. A downbeat person is a gloomy person, a person who doesn't find much good in his or her circumstances. We all know that downbeat and upbeat people can affect our own moods. It was interesting that a recent study of worker attitudes found that workers remembered downbeat comments much better than they did upbeat comments. In fact, according to this study, negative comments are remembered with such intensity that they can have a negative effect on the work. I read this in an article about so-called "social IQ". The article concludes that, for all the reasons we could imagine, an upbeat attitude helps everyone to do a better job. Getting along well with others in the workplace is as, if not more, important than general intelligence or performance skills. I wrote about this some time ago in a column entitled Lovable Bunglers and it becomes more and more clear that I was on the right track.

                                                  For us to work most efficiently, we must enjoy our work. If we feel oppressed, bored, downtrodden or distressed, we'll find ourselves distracted at every turn. We've all seen workers suffering from this problem. They're sleepwalking their way through the work-day, doing the minimum required to keep the job, increasingly despairing of ever accomplishing anything, praying for an end to the tedium. On the other hand, when we look at workers who enjoy their work, there's a palpable feeling of cheer and good will, there's a hum of efficiency.

                                                  When I first applied to work with a large group of people many years ago, my eventual supervisor told me that the only important thing I needed to know about the job was whether I liked the people I would be working with. He was right. When we work with people, we must like them to work most productively. And that's true whether we're working side by side or as supervisors or supervised.

                                                    I often argue that when we help others we help ourselves. This is the clearest example I can think of. By being nice, easy to get along, a pleasure to work with, we help others to do their best work. When they're happy in their work, it will be returned to us immediately and directly and we'll be happy in ours. And by the way it's not just in the workplace that getting along with others pays big dividends.

5-28-07