The Bucket and the Dipper
By Nancy Proffitt, President of Proffitt Management Solutions and Proffitt Management Leadership Institute
Each day we experience approximately 20,000 moments. A moment is defined as a few seconds in which our brain records an experience. The quality of our days is determined by how our brains recognize and categorize our moments — either as positive, negative or just neutral. Rarely do we remember neutral moments.
There is no question that the memories of our lives are recorded in terms of positive and negative experiences. Now scientists propose that each day our brains — i.e. our thoughts and our emotions — keep track of our positive and negative moments and the resulting score contributes to our overall mood.
Our emotional tone or mood is defined by the number of positive vs negative moments experienced during the course of a day.
The Gallup Organization has surveyed some 4 million workers on the topics of recognition and praise, and they delivered startling results. Along with the 65% of people who reported receiving no recognition on the job last year, an estimated 22 million workers are presently “actively disengaged,” or extremely negative in their workplace.
The number one reason that Americans leave their jobs is that they don’t feel appreciated. There are not enough positive moments to offset the negative ones.
A recent study found that workgroups with positive-to-negative interaction ratios greater than 3:1 ( 3 positives and 1 negative) are significantly more productive than teams that do not reach this ratio.
In their book How Full is Your Bucket, psychologists Donald O. Clifton and Tom Rath propose a metaphor of looking at positive and negative interactions during the day. Imagine we all have a bucket within us that needs to be filled with positive experiences, such as recognition or praise. When we’re negative toward others, we use a dipper to remove from their buckets and diminish their positive outlook. When we treat others in a positive manner, we fill not only their buckets but ours as well.
Here are 5 strategies for increasing your magic ratio of positive to negative moments in any given day:
• Prevent “Bucket Dipping.” Increase your own awareness of how often your comments are negative. Work toward a ratio of five positive comments to every one negative comment.
• Shine a light on what’s right. Try focusing on what employees or peers do right rather than where they need improvement.
• Make best friends. People with best friends at work have better safety records, receive higher customer satisfaction scores, and increase workplace productivity.
• Give unexpectedly. The vast majority of people prefer gifts that are unexpected.
• Reverse the Golden Rule. Instead of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” you should “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.”
Nancy Proffitt, MBA, Certified Business Coach, is the president of Proffitt Management Solutions and Proffitt Management Leadership Institute. Click here to check out her blog. She may be reached at 561-682-6060 or by email. Visit her website by clicking here or here. To read her previous column, click here.
