PRESS RELEASE
BEYOND ORGANIZATIONAL CYNICISM: Optimism, the Antidote
There are several types of organizational cynicism, adapted by Dr. Davidson from the research of Abraham (2000). It applies both to the level of cynicism of individual employees as well as to what may be an unhealthy collective sense of cynicism in the work team and organization.
1) Personality or trait cynicism. In this case the employee has an innate tendency towards cynicism which reflects a generally negative perception of human behaviour where there is a mistrust of others. Not surprisingly, this type of person is the most likely to experience the following types of "situational" cynicism.
2) Management Cynicism: In this type of cynicism employees become very jaded in their perceptions of the intent of management towards themselves. This kind of cynicism is more situational based than trait related, and arises out of a sense of a violation of an informal "contract" between employee and employer, for instance, when the employee perceives that he or she is being exploited or dealt with unfairly. These perceptions, of course, may be grounded in fact or may be misperceptions.
3) Change Cynicism: A related type of cynicism is related to change efforts in the organization. This happens when employees get very jaded and cynical about failed change efforts in the past. They become increasingly pessimistic about the success of future change effort and come to believe that the change efforts are not rooted in common sense, logic, nor proper planning, and may be merely "change for the sake of change". Pessimism towards the success of future attempts serves as a defense mechanism shielding them from further disappointment. This type of cynicism becomes self-fulfilling in that it prevents employees from wholeheartedly participating in future change efforts, thereby assuring their failure.
4) Peer Cynicism: This type of cynicism is related to one’s own work team. Employees who are cynical in this way tend to be suspicious of the motives of others in their work team, and are pessimistic about the team’s ability to be successful.
5) Customer/Client Cynicism: Another type of organizational cynicism is a sense of depersonalization and distancing that some employees feel towards the consumers of service. At this point, the employees affected by this type of cynicism blame the consumers for their problems, convey derogatory terms to label clients, and withdraw in order to minimize contact with consumers. Workers in the human services tend to be more subject to this type of cynicism and it is one of the primary symptoms of employee "burnout".
The common outcome for the person experiencing organizational cynicism is lack of job satisfaction and commitment to the organization, loss of productivity, as well as a reduction in what is known as "organizational citizenship". This kind of citizenship is defined as the willingness of the employee to go "beyond the call of duty"; for example, volunteering for committees or off hours activities in order to enhance the organization.
The degree to which a work team or organization becomes cynical is determined by the relative number of individuals who are cynical, the degree to which they are such, and the pervasiveness of the kinds of cynicism present. If the organization becomes influenced by a majority of people who think this way, a collective sense of cynicism will prevail. Cynicism is very contagious and it is difficult for optimistic people to hang on to their optimism over time
WORKPLACE OPTIMISM: The antidote
At the level of the individual, it has been found that individuals who are high in optimism and low in cynicism have a better capacity to deal with stress, are more physically and emotionally healthy and have stronger immune systems. It has also been found, in fact, that even the most cynical of individuals can be trained through attitudinal interventions to be more positive, and experience the positive gains as noted above.
Workplace optimism, as defined by Dr. Davidson, can be seen as the absence, or the opposite of, the various types of Workplace Cynicism delineated above. However, in the extreme, workplace optimism can border of what it know as "naive optimism", where the unhealthy dynamics of an organization can be underplayed or ignored. At times, the most prudent place on this continuum between the poles is a place inhabited by what has been called "healthy skepticism" or what Dr. Davidson has called "cynical realism"; that is, when it is prudent at times to be guarded about the motives of others in the organization who may be engaging in "workplace politics".
As in organizational cynicism, organizational optimism is influenced to a large degree by the level of optimism amongst the individuals. If a work team is dominated by individuals who have optimistic thinking, this kind of thinking may tend to prevail, although at times it can set up considerable conflict between skeptics and optimists. Drawing on the literature on optimism in individuals, Dr. Davidson notes that if a team is more oriented in the direction of optimism, it tends to see current challenges as being temporary rather than catastrophizing about the future. The team tends to see challenges as being more of an opportunity rather than a trauma and is hopeful about positive outcomes in the future. An optimistic organization tends to focus more on their successes rather their failures, although it analyzes failures as opportunities to become "self correcting". A cynical team tends to focus more on its failures and develop what could be seen as a collective sense of low self-esteem or failure mentality which, of course, can become self-fulfilling. In a technique developed by Dr. Davidson to increase organizational optimism, and known as "Success Stories", organizations examine several successes over a period of their work life, and extract the "active ingredients" which then can be used intentionally and enshrined by the work team.