A five-year study found that employee emotions significantly impact a company’s success. Interestingly, when an employee makes a mistake and isn’t punished, they tend to perform better. A company wants its employees to try, experiment, and succeed, but it is hard for the company to grow if employees are blamed when they make mistakes or fail. Over time, the company can unintentionally become a bureaucracy, which discourages employees from working effectively. Conversely, when employees and the company work together toward the same goal, great success follows. We mistakenly believe that giving employees monetary bonuses will motivate them. However, more factors can encourage people than just money. Not only is money a limited motivator, but it is also costly compared to its effectiveness. When a company becomes an unpleasant place to work, managers, employees, shareholders, and customers all become unhappy. But when it becomes a good place to work, everyone is happy. There’s no ambiguou...
A balloon will pop when placed atop a single pointed needle. However, if you drive the needle with multiple thumbtacks arranged like a rug, the balloon won’t burst. This illustrates that the impact of sharpness can depend on context. Even if we face inner turmoil, the way we position our challenges and the situations we create can transform those difficulties into connections rather than sources of pain. The key lies in how we manage the distribution of sharpness rather than the sharpness itself. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”