Hughs Blog

Apparently common sense isn’t all that common.

I was reading a one page article yesterday in the April 2, 2010 Globe a Mail entitled “Mood enhancers: How to restore happiness at work” (link). Is it just me, or are a lot of these ‘advice’ columns regurgitating common sense?

Here I was expecting some new insights about use of language and tone, creating energy connections, understanding the impact of dopamine or serotonin on people receiving good or bad news. Nope, think again. The authors quoted included advice like: “…the spreadsheets you work with may be tedious, but think about the relief you feel when you get them done.” (Jessica Pryce Jones, author of Happiness at work: maximizing your psychological capital for success).

Or how about from American coaching guru Marshall Goldsmith (author of Mojo: how to get it, how to keep it, how to get it back when you need it) in regards to meetings you don’t want to attend “…use the time to brainstorm on something more important to you…if nothing else, think of the gathering as a valuable time to renew acquaintances and build relationships with colleagues.”.

And from author consultant Terry Barber (author of The Inspiration Factor: How you can revitalize your company culture in 12 weeks) we have the advice “This is the time to say to those on your team ‘I need you more than ever before…I need all of you to help pull together and be creative.”

No doubt I have espoused similar strategies to my clients. And to be fair they all work. Certainly telling an employee they are valuable or encouraging staff to reframe difficult tasks to see the bigger picture does work, in varying degrees for different people. On the other hand it’s all starting to sound the same.

It reminds me of the famous Hawthorne Effect based the 1924-1932 experiments at the Hawthorne Works factory outside Chicago where workers productivity increased when changes were made to their working environment, but decreased when the study concluded. The conclusions drawn were that giving attention to employees and being a sympathetic manager both positively contribute to employee performance.

My advice to managers is to use all of the old tried and true techniques. Pay attention to staff and point out good performance. Check-in with staff and have one-on-one time. Provide ongoing technical and personal development skills training to help staff with performance and to better manage work load. And deal with inter personal issues quickly to avoid the spread of negativity.

But I also encourage managers to understand the more subtle nuances of rapport building, being trustworthy, creating positive anticipation, consistency theory (people are more likely to perform in a way consistent with their beliefs), and the positive influence of intention.

Maybe common sense isn’t all that common after all. And isn’t it wonderful that we now have so much uncommon sense to draw on as well?

Here’s the article in full. article-mood-enhancers-gm-0204102

Drop me a line and let me know what you think…

Hugh D. Culver is a thought leader in personal performance at work. He has worked with over 450 organizations to inspire change, growth and success in the workplace. You can reach Hugh at hugh@HughCulver.com

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