How to be less cynical

What’s your strategy for being less cynical?

Your Rant: Recently I was having lunch with some coworkers and I realized that every word coming out of my mouth was negative. What can I do to become less cynical?

911 Repair:

Your email reminded me of the school board election in Mississippi County, Arkansas, earlier this fall. There was no winner, because not one person voted in the entire election. Not even Carl Miner, a candidate for the school board, who just so happened to be the only person whose name appeared on the ballot.

It is always easy to sit back and adopt the cynical position, “nothing that I do or say will matter”. Miner found out that even when just one person stands up to be counted it can make a world of difference. It’s no different at work where just a few people can change the attitude of an entire workplace. I’ve listed some ways to do this below. For more, check out Diana De Lonzoe’s book “Never Be Late Again” (Post Madison, 2003)

Is it time to get reconnected to the people you work with? Is e-mail your exclusive way to communicate these days? Increasingly, we are becoming a collection of individuals at work rather than being a community of people working together. After five e-mails, I try to call someone. After 10, I meet with them face to face. Seek to have real relationships at work rather than just a bunch of penpals.

When was the last time you did a favor for someone at work? Part of the reason we get cynical is because we view work as a zero-sum game, to get ahead someone else has to fall behind. I think that we can all gain at work by working together. The best way to start the process is to look for opportunities to do favors for other people that you work with. Everyone I know who has tried this reports that it’s not only fun to do, but that they get a lot of people starting to return the favor and doing favors for them.

Can you consciously try to look on the positive side of things? It is easy to sit back and make fun of everyone and everything. It’s tougher to actually try to contribute to creating a better workplace and better working relationships. Instead of always focusing on what’s wrong, seek to find solutions to problems at work. You’ll not only become more productive, you might even find yourself having more fun.

Can’t remember the last time you left your comfort zone? By striking out and doing things differently, you’ll be less judgmental of other risk takers because you’ll have the bruises of trying to make change yourself.

If we all vote to do nothing, there is no way to change the cynicism and negativity that many of us face each day at work. Vote yes on making work a better place and you’ll find many other people ready to follow your efforts.

911 pulse:

What best describes your attitude at work?

Not cynical enough, 18.8 percent

Not cynical, 22.3 percent

Cynical, 58.7 percent

User strategy:

Our winning strategy for fighting cynicism comes from Mike A. in Tucson, Ariz:

“My approach may seem too simplistic, but I have found that by keeping all the folks at work informed about ongoing and upcoming changes everyone seems more positive and receptive to anything that occurs. As a technology specialist, I find that most of the time I do have to use e-mail to communicate with all the faculty and staff at the large school where I work. However, whenever possible, I personally inform folks of anything that has a direct impact on them. Continual and relevant communication is very effective in keeping everyone informed and making them feel that their input and suggestions are important to the decision-making process.”

Bob Rosner and Sherrie Campbell author the nationally syndicated workplace911 column weekly. Bob’s a best-selling author and award-winning journalist who has responded to over 50,000 emails from employees, bosses and entrepreneurs. Sherrie’s a relationship expert and award-winning comedian who has offered quick, intuitive and humorous responses to over 30,000 people. He’s been called “Dilbert, with a solution.” She’s the counselor with a kick. Together they’ve turned rants into raves via TV, radio, print and live on their website at workplace911.com.