A NECESSARY ATTITUDE

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John F. Kennedy

Necessary Attitude

Performance monitors and improvement trainers are always on the lookout for how to increase performance and cohesion. Whether in an organization, in a family or just among a group of friends; they device a methodology and procedure to maximize cohesion and performance. I do believe that these methodologies do work; besides I am a performance enhancement trainer myself. However, it is interesting to note that one good, age old, method to get the best out of people is simply an attitude of appreciating people.

A few years ago Dr. Nick Stinnett of the University of Nebraska conducted a group of studies called the "Family Strengths Research Project" Stinnett and his researchers identified six qualities that make for strong families. The first quality and one of the most important to be found in strong families was the quality of appreciation. Families that are strong are strong in part, Dr. Stinnett concludes, because family members express to each other their appreciation for what the other members DO and for who they ARE.
In a similar study another researcher looked into the effect of praise in the workplace. His study showed that the ratio of praise to criticism in the workplace needs to be four to one before employees feel that there is a balance - that there must be four times as much praise as there is criticism before they feel good about their work and about the environment they work in.

That is pretty staggering information - information that tells us that instead of setting up complex modules and procedures, simply find reasons to appreciate people for who they are and what they do, the key word here is that appreciation must outweigh criticism. This principle is not just man’s idea; it is the will of God Almighty.