How Forced Negativity And Induced Positivity Impact Handling Reality
Edition #145
Introduction
Welcome to The ContraMind Code.
The ContraMind Code provides you with a system of principles, signals, and ideas to aid you in your pursuit of excellence.
The newsletter shares the source code through quick snapshots for a systems thinking approach to be the best in what you do.
The Code helps you reboot and reimagine your thinking by learning from the best and enables you to draw a blueprint on what it takes to get extraordinary things done. Please share your valuable thoughts and comments and start a conversation.
Take a journey to www.contraminds.com. Listen and watch some great minds talking to us about their journey of discovery of what went into making them craftsmen of their profession to drive peak performance.
It Literally Pays to Love Your Work
Here’s a very insightful article that raises a lot of curious questions.
This article was published in Kellogg Insights by Dylan Walsh. It features Jacob D. Teeny, Assistant Professor of Marketing, and the research work done by the team Paley, Anna, Robert W. Smith, and Daniel M. Zane.
The research attempts to understand the link between how much someone enjoys making a product and people’s perception of its value. The one research question the study was trying to address was - ‘How much someone enjoys making a product or providing a service—or their “production enjoyment”—….. affect how we view the quality of that product or service.’
Here are some interesting research findings from the study:
Studies showed that buyers associated production enjoyment with greater product quality and value, consequently increasing their willingness to pay for it.
Buyers associate production enjoyment with intrinsic motivation—the way people derive value from a process itself rather than its outcome or external rewards.
The research study showed that ‘whereas buyers were willing to pay more for high production enjoyment, sellers were willing to charge less.’
‘…When someone enjoys the work, they may view the emotional satisfaction as part of their compensation and therefore charge a lower price.’
“One way to signal you have a great product is to show that you enjoy the work,”
Read the full article here.
The Trends Around News Fatigue and Avoidance
Thomas Baekdal is a Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. In this podcast, he discusses the growing trend of news fatigue and news avoidance.
In this podcast, Thomas talks about an experiment he did where he decided to test by not reading news for a week, which then turned into a month. According to him, “This was both scary and quite interesting. Because while some assumptions people have aren't true(about news consumption), it also helped me see things I hadn't noticed before.”
There are thoughts and experiences that Thomas shares in this conversation:
“Today, the way we publish news online seems to be designed to cause people stress. Every single news story is written in a way to make you feel the news, rather than understand it.”
The first day Thomas stopped reading the news, he noticed an interesting behaviour- “On the first day alone, according to my browser history, I did this 23 times(checking about news items). And every time I had to stop myself and say: "Hey, wait-a-minute. Why am I reading the news? Stop doing this!”
“So, during the first week, I didn't actually learn anything about news fatigue, I only learnt that I was addicted to news. Slowly, over the next couple of weeks, my mental state started to change. I started feeling a big difference in my everyday mood.”
“You are not hearing about the news, you hear about the outrage. I only heard about the topics that drove the most outrage.”
“If we can get people out of that day-to-day outrage, we have something bigger to work with.”
“Instead, it felt as if it was some kind of parallel universe where the journalists were trying to create a type of forced negativity.”
“So, I would encourage every newspaper to think about how to create value over time, for each article. Ask yourself if what you are writing about has any real relevance tomorrow, a week from now, or even next month.”
The Brutal Truth About Startup Success
Giuliano Iacobelli, former Apple's Director of Product Management, shares the reality of his startup experience and shatters some of the myths and principles associated with running a startup.
Here are some of the highlights of his talk, which is laced with brilliant examples and anecdotes:
The startup journey is quite intense, and you experience mood swings, pressure, and disappointments. These make up a larger share of daily life than the moments of positivity, wins, and joy.
Learn to test the demand for something that you trying to build without writing a single line of code!
It is vital to experiment and test as many hypotheses as possible, which can help you learn early and learn often.
Remember, 80% of the business is in sales! You can sell what you haven’t built yet.
First-time founders are obsessed with the product, while second-time founders are obsessed with distribution. The stronger your network, the better it will be.
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence are what win championships.
Communication is vital - to clients, to investors, to employees.
Remember, nothing is as good or as bad as it seems during that moment.
Market dynamics will trump individual performance.
When you pitch to investors, try to hold their attention with known patterns and analogies they can relate to.
Fundraising is a full-time job when you are still running the company. That is really hard.
Plans are useless, but plans are indispensable.
Being stubborn in your followups is vital. Every single ‘NO’ is getting closer to your ‘YES’.
Effort and sacrifice will be a part of the story every day.
You can click and watch the above video.
How Forced Negativity And Induced Positivity Impact Handling Reality
The effects of forced negativity and induced positivity strongly impact one's ability to manage and handle the reality around them.
Forced negativity is a phenomenon that is not restricted to only journalism today. It is also related to any message and conversation around you, whether at the workplace or in a personal setting. This not only creates a lot of stress and anxiety for colleagues but also an unwanted fear that the worst is about to happen. This affects our behaviour because it changes how we assess risk, and pain gets heightened.
When surrounded by people who spread the forced negativity syndrome, there is a lot of exaggeration about the dire consequences rather than an accurate assessment of the situation. Some people inherently can’t handle uncertainty or are unprepared for it. Therefore, in a workplace, if you observe closely, there is constant chatter about the boss, the management, the work environment, the company, clients, etc. In reality, things may not be as bad as they seem, but the negativism is so much in the air that it starts to affect the morale and motivation of people. The same applies to personal settings where only adverse incidents and negative consequences are discussed.
Similarly, induced positivity is at the opposite end of the continuum when there is a false narrative that everything is hunky-dory. One example of an induced positivity narrative is when people are hired for a job. There is a lot of exaggeration about the opportunity, the company’s culture, the role and position, the future, etc. The candidates join with heightened expectations, and if there is a slight deviation, it creates dissatisfaction very quickly. Leaders face the problem of induced positivity by the people surrounding or reporting to them, who only share the good news that the leaders want to hear. Soon, these leaders lose touch with what’s happening on the ground till a crisis hits the company, leading to a client loss or major restructuring or transformation that needs to be done. People with induced positivity carry a false sense of optimism, which starts influencing their perceptions and decisions.
Therefore, when there is a high dose of forced negativity or induced positivity, people’s behaviour swings to their extremities. Hence, facing reality becomes challenging as they live in their own shell. As a result, people become too pessimistic or too optimistic.
There needs to be a sense of neutrality in your head when facing or handling reality. The great Charlie Munger believed that people should accept reality, even when it's unpleasant or uncomfortable. He believed that this mindset helps people make better decisions and navigate challenges.
Some of the lessons we learnt from this week’s mission:
When you enjoy making your product or doing your work, people's perception of value increases, and they are willing to pay more.
Learn how and what can create value over time as you write and share your thoughts. Don’t get obsessed with immediate impact or response.
Startup journeys are intense and filled with highs and lows. Learning to accept it is vital.