The impact of the positive with a dose of conflict
In all the work I have seen on how to manage performance in organisations, I see two sides.
Be negative – make sure everyone is doing things right
Be positive – focus on what has been achieved
These two TED talks together give the third side.
Be positive with a little conflict.
First, the funny and very insightful talk from Shawn Anchor – The happy secret to better work.
Listen to the end because this is where the rubber hits the road.
Shawn explains that our brains and our lives are always looking for success so when we reach one – our brain immediately turns the positive experience into a negative and looks for the next success point to strive for.
If we can change the brain to automatically raise positivity in the present, you receive a happiness advantage, raising intelligence, creativity, energy, health – everything rises.
And to the point of this blog – if we increase positivity – business effectiveness improves as we become…
· 31% more productive
· 37% better at sales
So, the moral of Shawn’s story is changing the way your business is managed so people’s brains become geared to reverse the negativity formula into one which is positive, and it will impact on your bottom line. (He tells you how).
However, Margaret Heffernan in her talk Dare to disagree, illustrates how disagreement significantly improves business performance and the prospects for the whole organisation.
But of course, such disagreement needs to be within a positive and open environment where constructive conflict is encouraged so teams can question and find solutions, not raise arguments.
The combined message from both is create a positive organisation which collectively thinks and questions openly to give a pathway to business growth.
So, manage your teams this way.
