The Positives of Complaining

I've been hearing a lot lately about “The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work,” a new book by Jon Gordon. I'm looking forward to reading it.  From the reviews and the author's comments that  I've seen, the premise seems to be that complaining incessantly poisons the workplace and needs to be discouraged. Constructive comments that recognize the positive and provide solutions for change are fine, but petty grievances and annoyances accomplish little.

I don’t disagree – to a point.  As someone who runs a business, I’ve found it frustrating at times to see how small issues obscure big positives. But what I’m hearing from organizations throughout industries tells me there’s an issue here that’s more toxic and requires greater concern.

The flip side of annoying complaints is the defensive reactions and responses to issues leaders do not want to hear. They ignore the concern or punish the messenger  through retaliation, bullying, osctracism or other behaviors. That pattern allows small problems to grow into major issues which, depending on the concern and the business, can affect safety, quality, the public welfare and the organization's profitability, reputation and survival.

My point is balance: Let’s agree that we give thought to the issues we raise and how we raise them. Identify a problem and, as the author suggests, make a recommendation. But at the same time, let's encourage people to raise issues to leaders who we then hold to their part of the deal – listening and appreciating the concern as an opportunity to hear about problems before they devolve into unfixable crises.