Catch People Doing Something Right
A Methodology for Recognition
We are hard-wired as human beings to catch people doing something wrong. It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is. This tendency is rooted in the concept of “negativity bias,” which we touched upon in section 1.1 Abundance. As a consequence, we often don’t even see the positive things that surround us each and every day.
For example: Imagine you have arrived at work on a winter morning. You park in the office parking lot as usual. The lot has been cleared of snow and salted. You walk in the front door, the lights and heat are on and the place looks nice. You make your way to your computer. You turn it on, and it starts right up. You check your email inbox. Waiting in your inbox are the three items you needed by yesterday’s deadline. They’re all there! You go to get a cup of coffee, and a fresh pot has been made. You go to your first meeting, where you make a presentation developed by other staff members. Everything goes well. You go to your next meeting, and it’s all good. You have your lunch in a clean company break room. As you’re heading into your afternoon meeting, you discover the material given to you by another staff member is incorrect. This places you in a very difficult situation for the upcoming meeting. It’s embarrassing for you and the meeting goes poorly.
What do you tell your significant other or friend at the end of the day? We’ll bet you’d say it was a terrible day! An embarrassing day, and you’d describe the situation in which you were not prepared in the meeting.
Did you even notice the first parts of your day that went “right?” Odds are, you focused more on the one negative moment than everything else that went smoothly. That one instance of your day that went wrong will be your focus. That will be your story. How about all the positive things that occurred before that meeting? Did you notice that someone had plowed and salted the parking lot? Did you notice that someone made sure the place looked nice? Did you notice that your computer was working as it should? Did you notice the coffee was made, the lunch room was clean, or your emails had been properly responded to? We bet you didn’t notice these things. They’re like signposts you pass on the highway, you see them, use the information, pass them by, and barely take any notice. Most of us are barely conscious of all of the positive things around us.
You can, however, start to retrain your mind by directing appreciation toward others. How? You must begin to catch people doing something right!
What does this mean? How do you do this? The first step is becoming aware of the amazing things people do. Here’s an important thing to remember: The thing you catch people doing right doesn’t have to be earth-shattering.
