Misplaced Mindset - the root of all organization dysfunction

Jun. 5

Hand drawn cartoon of a person with gratitude is a solution sash with a banner misplaced mindset

Have you ever witnessed someone go from fully engaged at work to within a few months, all out rebellion ? This happens because of what I call, Misplaced Mindset - and unfortunately it’s completely natural.

Over time people misplace their mindsets. What was once dearly valued (benefits, flexible hours, compensation, scope of responsibility, remote work - the list is endless) is now taken for granted. It’s not deliberate and no one is trying to do anything devious, Misplaced Mindset happens because of adaptation, which is the human tendency to assign less value to the familiar. Left unchecked, Misplaced Mindset can turn into full blown resentment. It can happen in all aspects of our lives - personal and work.

Misplaced Mindset happens to individual contributors, to managers, to executives and to business owners - yes, even the top dog. No one is immune to it.

Have you ever personally participated in or witnessed any of these toxic behaviours ?

talking about people behind their back
taking advantage of sick time or working conditions
complaining
poor customer service
failing to follow basic process that is known and understood
blaming
ignoring values to achieve results
underperforming
exploiting staff

On the surface, it may appear the reason for the behaviour is lack of training or stress or being under-resourced or whatever, but if you dig deeper and keep asking why, you’ll discover the root cause. As you peel back the onion as to why any of these behaviours occur, it will always come back to a mindset that fails to recognize the good fortune and opportunity one possesses. Bottom line, I believe Misplaced Mindset is at the core of all organizational dysfunction.

The solution

To prevent Misplaced Mindset and the subsequent organizational dysfunction, you must equip each person in your organization with tools to build and maintain a world-class mindset of excellence. There are a number of ways to achieve this, but my recommended tool is gratitude. Gratitude is simple, effective and practical.

Gratitude is a harbinger that continually reminds us there is good and nudges the mindset to refocus our perspective towards being solution driven. Gratitude helps us notice when we Misplace our Mindset and then motivates us to do something about it. Over time, gratitude helps prevent the Misplaced Mindset - in fact, it helps the mindset default to a positive, goal-oriented perspective striving for excellence. Recent research suggests that gratitude enhances the cardiovascular response in acutely stressful situations and subsequently drives collaboration and improves individual performance. Researchers found that being grateful reduced the sense of threat in high-stress situations and stimulated what you would describe as generative problem solving.

Successfully engraining gratitude into the collective mindset of your organization relies in having a long term orientation towards continuous improvement. Avoid the temptation to seek immediate gratification. This is a journey of mastery.

To get started on Misplaced Mindset, give us a call or please make use of our do-it-yourself Playbook for More Gratitude at Work available for free here.