We can be productive despite challenges
WE’VE ALL faced tough situations, and our reactions to them may be quite different. The ‘going’ gets rough often, sometimes every day. The recent popular phrase “the struggle is real”, seems to aptly capture our everyday realities. You may be able to relate to one or more of these tough situations and the typical responses: “I am tired of trying to convince my colleagues of ... I’ll just keep quiet”, “This report is due tomorrow, but I’m so exhausted ... I’ll rush it through in the morning”, “I have so much to do and no one appreciates how hard it is ... what’s the point?” or finally, “I’m not feeling well ... better call in sick”.
The reactions to tough situations identified above, if characteristic of the average employee, could easily reduce the overall productivity of a firm. Toshinobu Kasai, in a 2016 article written for the World Economic Forum, indicated that “Overworked employees report more health problems, and as a direct consequence are less productive and use more sick days”. A 1991 study out of the University of California, Berkeley, by Clair Brown and Vince Valvano showed that employees who respond to difficult relationships with colleagues by displaying adversarial attitudes and distrust were also highly unproductive. Yet another study by the Aberdeen Group in 2013 demonstrated that drops in productivity were directly related to lack of recognition of staff by the leadership of the organisation.
But what is a ‘tough’ situation really, and what makes some persons so productive and successful despite challenges? A 2018 Harvard Business Review research report by Zenger and Folkman, titled ‘7 Traits of SuperProductive People’, showed that highly productive people had the following characteristics: i) stretched themselves to
achieve more, ii) were consistent in their rate and degree of productivity over time, iii) possessed the knowledge and
expertise to do the work, iv) competed and strived for
results, v) anticipated and solved
problems, vi) initiated action, and vii) sought to collaborate.
Perhaps when these superproducers are faced with tough situations like difficult colleagues, impending deadlines, or illness, they employ their skills to overcome the challenges. The ‘toughness’ of the situation may therefore be in how it is perceived and our preparedness for it, rather than in its objective reality.
Zenger and Folkman did not shed light on why superproducers react differently, compared to the average employee.