Grumpy People, Good Performers?

Posted February 22nd, 2010

Do grumpy people work with you? Are you grumpy? Through the years, I have worked with lots of grumpy construction workers, pipeline operators, controllers, technicians, engineers, managers, regulators, IT workers, executives. Occasionally I have embarked on campaigns to reduce grumpiness at locations where I worked or managed. I know of companies that have got rid of knowledgeable employees for being “hard to manage.”

I may have been wrong, in my attempts to rid the workplace of grumpiness. The March/April 2010 issue of Scientific American Mind quotes a study that found “that people in a bad mood performed tasks better than those in a good mood.”

The study or the article states that “grumpy people paid closer attention to details, showed less gullibility, were less prone to errors of judgment, and formed higher-quality, persuasive arguments.”

That grumpy individual(and I’m thinking of several right now) may be the best person on your team to help you and others avoid errors and accidents.  He or she may not be a pleasant companion, but may produce more pleasing results.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Human Factors, In the News, Observations.