Why is telling the truth about something considered being "negative"?

[BuelahWitch]

I recently started a new job doing phone customer service. There are days when there are several people in queue and you take call after call after call. One day a few weeks ago a guy who'd been there for awhile said that it used to only be that way on Mondays, but now it's that way most of the month. When I asked him why that was, he said it had something to do with the new management, but that he didn't want to say any more or he'd sound "negative."
In all fairness, he didn't know me well and probably was afraid I'd go tattling that he was dissing management (which I really don't care frankly. Most management teams are a joke). The reality of it is, that they are losing people right and left, people who had been with them more than 6 months, sometimes over a year. Bottom line is they are not getting paid enough to do all the stuff this place requires of them, or they got passed over for promotion to senior rep, so they leave.

This isn't a new thing, I remember similar stuff in the '80s and '90s. "Don't be negative," "You complain about it because you're just negative," What the hell is wrong with being negative if what you're saying is true? The technology is there to fix the problem, and make things easier. They either just don't want to pay for it
or take the time to train the people on a new system. But training new people, some of whom don't stay two weeks after getting out of training, is ok.
Just don't mention all the people jumping ship. You might sound negative.

[mondo joe]

1. In fairness, there's usually more than one "truth".

Sometimes the truth is negative.

Sometimes just opinions are.

[Deep13]

3. There are differences in perception,...

...but there is only one underlying set of facts.

[mondo joe]

4. Yes - and as I said...

sometimes the truth IS negative.

But sometimes only the opinion (or set of perceptions) is.

Like most of us, I have worked with people who can find doom and gloom in any scenario. And like most of us, I've worked with people who can't see disaster when it's looking them right in the face.

[Deep13]

10. Why are you being so negative?

:hide: :evilgrin:

[Toots]

12. Here is an example I learned in third grade

The USA and the USSR had a car race and the USA won. USA Headlines USA wins car race. Headlines in USSR, USSR comes in second while USA comes in next to last. Both are completely true headlines.

[Deep13]

2. My response:

"Don't change the subject. I'm having a normal reaction to a negative situtation. Don't try to make (whatever) my fault."

[treestar]

5. It is from the motivational tapes of the 80s and 90s

Which give the delusional advice that if you "affirm" something, like "I am the greatest violinist ever" mentally, you can make it comes true. And that if you aren't the greatest violinist ever, it's because you didn't tell yourself that enough.

Thus the premise unexamined that being "negative" is bad in and of itself.

Look where it got us. The MSM keeps saying things and repeating them until everyone "knows" they are true. Just saying "Iraq was behind 911" often enough will make it "true."

[Double T]

6. Sounds like you are on the Titanic..............

bashing Titanic like captains of management is ONLY natural, not negative; most management today is totally inept and incompetent. Just watch out what you say and who you say it to.

[BuelahWitch]

14. Yes that's the feeling I got with my coworker

Who has been there a long time and is very knowledgeable about procedures. I just don't understand why "businesses" have such huge egos. If you've got high turnover, get your head out of your ass, admit there's a problem and fix it. It's not that difficult.

That's why I'll never be in management ;)

[raccoon]

17. Management never admits they're wrong.

Management means never having to say you're sorry, doncha know.

[supernova]

7. There's a whole culture of positive spin

in the business world, and that precludes talk about what is "wrong," or "not right," including the accompanying emotional states. Result, even if you see something wrong, it's not "wrong," it's merely an opportunity for improvement and you have the solution.

Barbara Erenreich talks about this relentless positivism in Corporate America in Bait and Switch.

And no matter what, keep smilin'! :D

Cue *Shiny Happy People*

[mitchum]

11. Yes, in a modern retelling of "The Emperor's New Clothes", the boy...

would be considered a negative cynic and the tailor would win the entrepreneur of the year award

[Jim__]

8. When you're "being negative", you're pointing out problems in the system.

Management can take this as constructive input, or, as criticism of management. In my experience, management tends to take it as criticism and to react badly.

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. The people who call the truth negative are management, that's why

This is one of the things that Scott Adams parodies a lot in "Dilbert." Management screws up by following policies that hurt the company; employees complain; management says that the complaining employees are being "negative" and "are hurting morale" and so give management the scapegoats they need for the failures caused by their policies. The complainers are fired or are transferred to less desirable jobs or get passed over for promotion, and it very quickly spreads that those who complain will be driven out or abused. Adopting the language of management, employees will use "negativity" to mean any complaint or reaction against management policies.

Sadly, this isn't a parody so much as an accurate reflection of how many large companies operate.

[GeorgeGist]

13. Because then you're not ...

supporting the bullshit that liars sell.

[deadmessengers]

15. Here's an example

Back when I worked in a corporate I.T. department, I worked with a guy who complained CONSTANTLY. Every day, he would find a new reason to bitch and moan. Most of the time, he had a valid point - the things he complained about were certainly "sub-optimal". On the other hand, he had a tendency to get all bent out of shape about things that were, comparatively speaking, pretty minor. He had 2 speeds - "Things are perfect", and "things are completely, irretrievably broken", with no grey areas in between. He would also never, EVER offer any ideas about how the things he was bitching about could be made better - all he knew how to do was bitch.

And THAT is an example of an inherently negative complainer.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. "Be Happy in Your Work"? "Arbeit Mach Frei"?

"The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same." - Marie Beyle

[Jade Fox]

18. That attitude is usually .....

the result of bringing up a problem no one wants to deal with, in my experience. It's basically a way of telling you to shut up.

That said, complaining by itself is rarely useful. But sweeping real problems under the carpet usually just delays dealing with them.

[leftofthedial]

19. because more often than not in fascist aMurka

the truth IS negative