While thinking about the keynote address about Positivity at Agile 2011 (and my previous post), I was reminded of one of the doormen at our offices in Chicago. Once in a while at the end of the day, he stands right in the middle of the main hallway that everyone needs to pass through in order to leave the building. He looks everyone in the eye and yells out things like “Great job today!” and “Awesome work this week!”
Now, I’m obviously a complete stranger and he doesn’t really know if I did good work or not but it’s amazing how you can’t help but walk with a little spring in your step after your encounter with him. So over the weekend I tried the same thing while out on a run. Instead of giving the obligatory small hand wave to oncoming runners, I started yelling out things like “Good work!”, “Looking good! Great form!” and “Keep it up!”
The response was pretty cool…not only did I see more smiles on the other runners but I started feeling different as well. I felt lighter and faster and found myself running with purpose, almost seeking out other runners to encourage.
So, what small, random thing can you do to bring a little positivity back to your workplace, your Agile team, your family and community?
2 replies on “Extreme Positivity – A Follow Up”
[…] close to zero as humanly possible. >> Be active, present, and real partner to them. >> Be extremely positive. When thing go bad (and they will), you are the one who will keep the team in a positive frame of […]
[…] for opportunities. I will not need to look far. I’m reminded of one of my first blog posts I ever wrote. It talks about a doorman in our building who stood in the main hallway as people left […]