In case you didn’t notice look up. No not that far. Look to the header image. I updated it today with a photo my brother took of his son and me picking up pieces of Positivity.
I like the sound of that. Picking up pieces of positivity.
I am known to be optimistic and to generally have a good attitude. At my work this is known as being above the line.
There is a poster at my work. It shows a circle split into two, one half (above the line) shows a joyous stick figure skipping into the air, the other half (below the line) shows a slouching and depressed stick figure moping around with his head hung low.
Above the line there are some descriptive words…. “Possibilities, solutions”. Below the line it says “Problems, limits”.
I don’t know why I like this poster so much. At first I thought that it was just another feel good corporate inspirational poster. You know what I mean; every company I have ever worked for, with over a hundred employees, seems to come up some catch phrase or business model that is intended to magically turn their unhappy sulking knuckle dragging employees into hard charging smiling super-productive workaholics. Most of the time all it produces is eye rolling and heavy sighs.
The more I thought about it the more I realized that the poster is not there to motivate employees. I see the poster as a way of showing people themselves in a mirror. It asks them to evaluate which side of the line they belong and if they like where they are.
This poster got me to thinking about our current unemployment issue here in the States. I often wonder if a small part of the high unemployment numbers we see have to do with some choices employers had to make.
Do employers take advantage of work force reductions to perform a little natural selection? I believe so.
I saw this in action when I worked for HP. My department went through a massive outsourcing initiative; I was lucky to be one of the last people out the door. At the time I was a bit below the line myself and wasn’t surprised to be let go. Sure they said it wasn’t about me, what else would they say?
I don’t know what it was about HP. Something happened just around the turn of the century, the whole company started to move below the line, and I got dragged down with it. Before then I was always up and positive.
My experience at HP broke my positivity into pieces and it took me years to put it back together. It was hard work but worth it.
Negativity is contagious. So is positivity.
I decided to be a carrier of positivity.
Like my rocket, I picked up the pieces and glued them back together.
It’s time to fly again.