Positivity in a Workspace

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

–Mahatma Ghandi

40 | T+D | JANUARY 2010

Photo by Corbis

Positive organizational scholarship has helped answer important questions about why some companies perform so much better than others. Concepts about virtue, compassion, and positivity may seem simple, but they turn out to be crucial implements for broader success.

UNLEASHING POSI I IVI I Y IN I HE WORKPLACE

By Ann Pace

In 1989 in Rocky Flats, Colorado (a small town 16 miles west of Denver), the FBI raided and temporarily closed a nuclear weapons production facility in response to continued allegations of environmental violations. The U.S. federal government estimated that it would take 70 years and more than $36 billion to close and clean up the site. Employees who had worked at the 6,000-acre facility since the 1950s were suddenly ostracized by the surrounding community, which feared radioactive pollution. Seemingly in a day, the Rocky Flats workforce—once hailed as patriotic heroes aiding the United States’ Cold War nuclear proliferation efforts—became environmental criminals without a mission. Six years later, the government awarded the contract to close the Rocky Flats facility to a local engineering and environmental firm, CH2M HILL. Astonishingly, CH2M HILL finished the job 60 years ahead of schedule, $30 billion under budget, and 13 times cleaner than federal standards required. The employees, who had initially filed 900 grievances, were transformed into an engaged force that worked themselves out of their jobs.

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JANUARY 2010 | T+D | 41

The origins Positive Organizational Scholarship

• Positive refers to an affirmative bias, an examination of phenomena that represent a value orientation toward abundance, elevation, and virtuousness. • Organizational refers to positive processes and states that occur in association with organizational contexts. It draws from...