All those happy, cheerful employees that make the office an inviting and enjoyable place to work are so busy smiling they often don't see problems until there is a crisis, lead study author Jing Zhou told The Houston Chronicle. Meanwhile, the grouches are more aware of pitfalls, so they're proactively preparing before catastrophe hits. She admits this is a radical departure from general management philosophy, which holds that a positive mood is what leads to the best problem-solving skills.
Zhou's theory is based on a survey of 161 employees and their supervisors at a large oil-field services company. While the workers were asked to assess their own mood at work, the supervisors were told to rank the creativity of their employees. She found that people who were in periodic bad moods tended to be the most detail-oriented and analytical, as well as challenged the status quo--three essential ingredients to creative problem-solving.
Why is a bad mood so productive? When someone is in a negative mood, he or she is usually quite motivated to get out of it. Solving a problem often does the trick. It's important to note that Zhou is not focusing on those sour grapes who are in a foul mood every day, a situation that can poison an office. Instead, she's talking about the occasional grump. This kind of person needs a special manager who creates a climate that gives such employees the elbow room they need to best operate; otherwise, they just stay grouchy and unproductive.
Here's the bottom line: People who come to work in a good mood will play well with others and make the office an pleasant place to work, but those who come to work in a bad mood and use that contrary attitude to solve problems creatively are more likely to get promoted.
--From the Editors at Netscape
