Imagine you\u2019re the supervisor of a team of employees. You send out an email asking for feedback on a sponsorship opportunity the company is considering.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis looks like an awesome opportunity to raise our profile!\u201d Amy writes back.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm\u2026Do we have a sense of who the attendees are going to be? I noticed the deadline for sponsors was last Tuesday, so it seems a little suspect that they\u2019re just reaching out to us today,\u201d Dave replies.<\/p>\n
If you prefer Amy\u2019s response, you aren\u2019t alone, but what if I told you ol\u2019 Debbie Downer Dave might actually be the more valuable employee?<\/p>\n
We often categorize pessimists and naysayers as workplace problem children, but those who offer up sober second thoughts (not to be confused with garden variety complainers and misanthropes) shouldn\u2019t be automatically discounted as drains on office morale. In fact, they might just be your best hires. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n
Invested people ask questions<\/p>\n
People who don\u2019t care are more likely not to speak up. They\u2019ll nod in agreement while mentally composing their grocery list or fire off a \u201csounds good\u201d email without a second thought. Taking the time to look for hidden downsides and raise questions is a sign of someone invested in the outcome of the decision. Consider that the naysayer in your midst isn\u2019t trying to rain on anyone\u2019s parade, but attempting to suss out the worst-case scenario and spur the group to develop a workable risk mitigation strategy. She\u2019s invested in the organization\u2019s success and she\u2019s evaluating business moves in light of how likely they are to contribute to that success. Put another way, just because you buy travel insurance, it doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t expect to enjoy your Jamaican getaway, does it? Your office pessimist is your insurance policy.<\/p>\n
It takes courage to go against the flow<\/p>\n
Do you want to be surrounded by sycophants or would you rather hire people who have the gumption to take a stand? The corporate world isn\u2019t that far removed from high school. Everyone wants to be one of the cool kids (entrepreneurs are the new prom queens) and to avoid standing out in a negative way. The guy who\u2019s willing to put up his hand and ask, \u201cHey, what about X?\u201d is taking a risk. He\u2019s willing to draw attention to himself and to defy the Bystander Effect. He\u2019s embracing the attitude of outspoken Hustler publisher Larry Flynt that,\u201dsometimes there\u2019s no greater honor than being a righteous pain in the ass.\u201c Someone who has principles and a point of view and is willing to make them known, even when that goes against the group or alienates others, is the kind of person you should want on your team.<\/p>\n
Your own work gets stronger<\/p>\n
The presence of devil\u2019s advocates and skeptics should push you to do work that stands up to their scrutiny. You know your assumptions will be questioned, numbers will be crunched and every SWOT analysis scoured in detail \u2014 why not treat that as a worthy challenge to be tackled? Just like taking a class from a hard-grading professor in your college days, you understand that getting buy-in from a habitual naysayer means that you\u2019ll have to go above and beyond to win their approval. You\u2019ll need to shore up any weaknesses in your plan, anticipate their counter arguments and be candid about potential risks and how they\u2019ll be addressed. Having to run the pessimist gauntlet when proposing a new idea helps you to become a rigorous, holistic thinker and if you can turn a doubter into a believer, you know you\u2019re doing something right.<\/p>\n
This article was written by J. Maureen Henderson from Forbes and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. SmartRecruiters<\/a> is the hiring success platform to find and hire great people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagine you\u2019re the supervisor of a team of employees. You send out an email asking for feedback on a sponsorship opportunity the company is considering.","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":30818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":""},"categories":[840,630],"tags":[],"series":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pessimist1-e1422264368802.jpeg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Podcast-icon.jpg","download_link":false,"player_link":false,"audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/hiring-success-podcast\/id1472174987","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXJpbmdzdWNjZXNzcG9kY2FzdC5jYXN0b3MuY29tL2hpcmluZy1zdWNjZXNzLXBvZGNhc3Q","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"soundcloud":{"key":"soundcloud","url":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/smartrecruiters\/sets\/hiring-success-podcast-1","label":"SoundCloud","class":"soundcloud","icon":"soundcloud.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3bM8YzLjM2G9qJXLBBySaB","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast","embedCode":"Why You Should Hire A Pessimist<\/a><\/blockquote>