Jeremy McCarthy who is Group Director of Spa at the Mandarin Oriental Group asks his students, “What is worse, a negative employee or an apathetic one?”
McCarthy explains: “Of course, there is no right or wrong answer to this question, and it invariably sparks an interesting discussion. Some will recognize that an apathetic employee can be a drain on the system as they collect a paycheck but contribute minimally to the goals of the organization. Most of my students will say the negative employee is worse, citing, ‘one bad apple can spoil the bunch’ or other fears of the contagious nature of negativity.
But in their new book, The Upside of Your Darkside, psychology researchers Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener say, ‘you need an anxious person on your team,’ because they serve as the ‘canary in the mine shaft,’ alerting you to problems before your more optimistic team members even become aware of them. You need someone who will tell you when you are making a mistake.”
I really like McCarthy’s short essay because he displays a very positive attitude towards “negativity” instead of endorsing “negativity toward negativity.”
