The agenda of the useless.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Charles R. Swindoll

       We have all seen this quote, and I have always disagreed.  Partly because it is my nature to be disagreeable, partly because nothing so sunny could possibly be true.  Mostly it is because it is the biggest, fluffiest ball of crap ever committed to paper.  

       I say this because having an optimistic outlook doesn't actually change a damned thing.  It may help you feel better, assuming you have a high degree of cognitive dissonance, but it changes nothing.  Someone born to poor parents will not become rich by having a sunny disposition.  Someone who's car was stolen does not recover it by optimism.  

       All that is accomplished by spreading this manure is empowering useless people to feel vital.  We all work, or attend school, with someone who is completely worthless, but feel like they contribute simply by having  a positive attitude.  My attitude is awful.  But if someone wants a something done, done right, and done fast, they come to me.  

       In fact my attitude is best when those with a positive attitude are nowhere in sight.  When I'm surrounded by other grumpy people, all of us see an increase in productivity.  I am not talking only about my current position, but every job, and every school I've ever attended.  

       That is not to say everyone with a positive attitude is worthless.  I know quite a few people who are tops in their field, and unabashedly positive.  But even if they were the rule rather than the exception, to say that attitude matters more than fact is asinine.  

       I am also not saying that negative people are all productive.  Many are quite the opposite.  And a negative unproductive person is worse for morale than a positive unproductive person.  In theory anyway.  The negative unproductive person will never get an undeserved promotion because of their sunny disposition.

       Positive people get promoted more often, but look around your company, do they do a better job?  The people who take an honest look at the situation, and make the best of it, are a different class of people than those who only see the good.  It's well past time we acknowledge the difference.