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Stop Toxic Positivity
Struggle is part of life. There’s no way to achieve much of anything if you don’t walk through the fire every once in a while. Meanwhile, anecdotes abound encouraging us to stay positive, keep our chins up and fake it till we make it.
And truthfully, a positive outlook is a valuable thing to cultivate. But there’s a misconception surrounding positivity that can be disastrous to the successful navigation of challenging situations, and this misconception can be especially harmful when promoted by people in professional leadership positions.
That misconception is this:
Staying positive means pretending like people aren’t struggling.
The Great Disappointment
Once I lead an organization through a facility relocation and expansion. We grew from two facilities to three, and in the process increased our operating square footage almost 100%, all without growing staff headcount. The move went great — adjusting to a new operating paradigm was less of a cakewalk.
Staff satisfaction and engagement plummeted. We made stupid mistakes. Efficiency went through the floor. People grumbled… constantly.
