Want Productivity? Hire Grumpy!
February 20, 2007 – 18:33 pm
Psychologists from the University of Alberta have found that miserable people make better workers than happy ones. No wonder we are so productive at the academy.
Apparently, happy people waste too much time trying to be happy, while their pissed off co-workers simply get the job done.
I guess these findings call into question all of the time, effort and money that have been expended to ensure that we have a happy workplace.
Psychologists Robert Sinclair and Carrie Lavis led a group of researchers that studied four groups of workers building circuit boards on a production line.
Workers who described their mood as ‘sad’ did not produce any more work but they made half as many mistakes as happy workers. As a result less of their products failed quality assurance tests. Apparently, miserable people use work to distract themselves from their mood while happy people are more likely to regard work as an unwanted distraction – and a source of unhappiness.
The study’s findings are contrary to previous research on the subject which suggests happy workers are more productive.
Now you may wonder how workers feel about these findings. Well, we will never know since, as a result of this study, no one cares. So get back to work and quit reading these blogs on the internet!