Positive Dissatisfaction

A couple of articles recently triggered the writing of these thoughts. First, a Yahoo article on moderate happiness driving wealth. The second was a thread on a local blog by Helen Smith.

Both the original article and the follow up thread discuss the concepts that most successful people are not "always happy". As applied to business (and particularly change processes), I have always felt that the concept of a mostly optimistic person is the most successful. I call this Positive Dissatisfaction.

Positive Dissatisfaction is the balance between optimism and recognition of the need to improve. The optimism is required in a business to attract and retain driven personal. Most successful people want to work in an environment where they are appreciated and where the environment has high energy and a sense of purpose. These are all components of, or enhanced by, a strong optimistic leader. Optimism and positivity is also required for generating and maintaining personal relationships and a strong network of peers within an organization. People are attracted to people who are positive and get things done.

The dissatisfaction comes into play as a stimulus, at a personal and business level, for driving change and improvement. This stimulus is required to help a person or a group continue to strive to improve. The stimulus is the voice in the back of a person's mind constantly say "There is a better way......"

The coupling of the optimism with the right level of dissatisfaction is Positive Dissatisfaction. With absolutely no science whatsoever, I have always felt that being "80%" optimistic is the right level. This is the mostly optimistic person, who still retains a foot in reality. This is the leader who can attract and reward a team, yet still hold firm accountability to goals and objectives. This is the right level to help people drive to succeed and drive to improve, in parallel.

Comments welcome.