Page 60 - AIMA : Foundation Day Souvenir

THOuGHTFul OPTIMISM
Blind optimism does not help solve real problems; practical thinking during setting attainable goals does.
Amit Mishra, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
‘Be positive’, is the most widely used terminology in organisations, hackneyed by the ginger group of personnel who are perpetually besieged with bottom lines, targets, EBITDA, incessant meetings, gross margins, competition, conversion rates, etc. The phrase finds its solace in the mess of convoluted aspirations of every employee who visualises climbing the corporate ladder faster to the celestial city of success and growth but seldom arrives mid- way to find the lurking disappointments in low appraisal ratings or to the chagrin of the boss’s reproval. Positivity coaches (a recently conceived neologism for honchos who give pep talks in return for huge sums from the corporate treasury) harp on the magical power of thinking positively for employee growth. Most of them, positivity coaches draw their inspiration from the nuances of positivity made known to the world by Norman Vincent Peale, Martin Seligman, Napoleon Hill, etc.
The Power of Positive Thinking, a book released in 1952 by Peale, is the very first treatise on positivity and visualising positivity in every
ordeal to make life better. Later, the idea of positivity gained traction in the times of Martin Seligman, particularly in the ‘90s, who amalgamated the notion of positivity and science and deemed it positive psychology. Recently, these ideas formed the foundation for proponents of positive thinking like Anthony Robbins, Ken Blanchard, Wayne Dyer, Rhonda Byrne, etc. Rhonda Byrne took the concepts to an extreme when she wrote the best-selling book The Secret, and asserted that having optimistic thoughts was the secret ingredient that would ensure success in practically any circumstance. It was everything anyone required and thus success would follow ideas of success, and failure would always follow the thoughts of failure.
But does the factor of positive thinking affect employees’ efficiency? Do visualizing positive outcomes lead to desired results? Is positive thinking a panacea for all organizational problems or is there any other tested way? Let’s find out
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