Keith Bailey Talks with Us About Smart People in the Workplace

New Harbinger Publications: Your book, Watercooler Wisdom, is based on over 20,000 surveys you conducted with workers at all status and pay levels—and in a variety of countries. You say that you found some common threads among the employees who were successful and happy at work. What were they, and were you surprised to find so much commonality among so many different types of workers?

Keith Bailey: Even though the surveys we conducted crossed many different cultures, it didn’t take long to realize that human beings are human beings the world over, with the same set of basic tools. We found the people who were truly prospering at work, regardless of country or pay rate, used these inner tools to change how they reacted to outside circumstances. For example, we interviewed many people who were sure they would be victims of downsizing yet their attitudes remained positive and buoyant. Regardless of their specific situations, none of them succumbed to the fear and pressure most of us would feel in a similar situation.

NHP: Many of us have a tendency to procrastinate, which we don’t leave behind when we go to work. What are a few tips for overcoming procrastination?

KB: Often the reason we procrastinate is because we find the task overwhelming. We’ve found that breaking tasks down into bite-sized pieces really helps us to move ahead. For example, cleaning out the garage can be daunting until you assign a specific amount of time to clean out one corner—from there on it seems more doable and gets easier. Another tip is to get support. It’s harder to procrastinate over your exercise plan, for example, when a friend is knocking at your door ready for the jog you both agreed to yesterday.

NHP: Conventional wisdom holds that to succeed you have to be a team player, but you say it’s more about being a central player. What does it mean to be a central player, and why do you suggest this paradigm shift?

KB: It really isn’t so much a matter of changing paradigms as priorities. “Being a team player” is a slogan we’ve heard in just about every company we’ve worked with yet few actually display any lasting team successes. Central players are reflective individuals who are self-determined, honest about their strengths and weaknesses, and are committed to learning rather than blaming. Their insight and communication skills can be a great asset to any organization—especially on a team. If organizations encouraged and rewarded central player qualities, teamwork would naturally improve.

NHP: We hear a lot about workplace stress these days. Are today’s workers really more stressed than those of past eras, and if so, why?

KB: Yes, without a doubt. A current research study by DayTimers Inc. finds that most US workers feel rushed on the job but are getting less accomplished than they were in 1994, the date of the last study. We feel pressured because no matter how much we do we know it’s not enough. The promise of time saving technology has backfired. We all find ourselves stressed from having more interruptions from email, voicemail, cell phones and instant messages and less time to concentrate on one task. For many people multitasking means doing more, feeling rushed and accomplishing less—that’s stressful!

NHP: Chapter two of Watercooler Wisdom is dedicated to work psychology. How do a worker’s thoughts and feelings about his or her work and perceived performance affect actual performance and productivity?

KB: One common example is when we worry about the same thing over and over. It’s very difficult to be productive when we have a constant nagging concern. Imagine how difficult it would be to focus on your work if you had just been told that your department was being reorganized. Our internal commentator would bombard us with worries about job security, relocating, our new boss, and so forth. Stress and worry at work are more rampant than ever before, so we need new ways of calming ourselves and dealing with situations out of our control that won’t be getting better anytime soon. One tool we offer in the book is switching from Horizontal Thinking to Vertical Feeling, which, put simply, means taking some of the attention of our thought process and looking deeper into how we feel in our body. The smart people we interviewed couldn’t stop their thoughts but had figured out ways of reducing their negative impact on their work and life.

NHP: You also talk a lot about dealing with difficult people in the workplace. Now I think most of us realize that dealing with a difficult boss can be one of the toughest workplace situations. Let’s take a hypothetical example of someone whose boss routinely takes credit for his or her accomplishments. How does this person address this without alienating the boss and sabotaging his or her chances of moving forward?

KB: So much of having this type of conversation depends on how well you can respond to your boss’ particular personality. In the book we talk about the skill of “Pacing” and this is a good place to start because if you are angry and your boss is defensive the chances of reaching peaceful resolution are slim. We also recommend planning the conversation—as you would any important event—and separating fact, the cold, hard facts, from the fiction, which is often just the story we tell ourselves based on our emotional reaction. Smart people who just do this one step and talk about what they know—for example, “I don’t like it when you present my report to the committee and take full credit for it”—as opposed to saying what they think—“You only care about looking good in front of the committee. You always do this. You never give me credit for anything”—have far more successful outcomes to their difficult conversations.

NHP: You offer six rules for succeeding and being happy at work. One of them is “invent meaningful contexts.” Can you explain this?

KB: We all have a choice about how we view any particular situation. The glass is either half full or half empty. Smart people make choices about how they are going to view their work world. In the book we give an example of a senior salesperson we interviewed who thought of her younger, less-experienced colleagues as irritating nuisances, always asking her for coaching and advice. One day, unexpectedly, she was honored and recognized by the many young salespeople she had helped. She was shocked, embarrassed, and moved. She had never thought of her actions as making such a difference to so many people. This new perspective helped her change the context of how she viewed interruptions. She shifted from being annoyed to being grateful for the opportunity to guide and coach. We all have this power.

NHP: Often the trickiest problems in the workplace involve personality rather than productivity issues. Let’s imagine an office manager who’s got someone on his or her staff who is a highly productive and efficient worker, yet is a chronic gossip. What advice do you give him or her?

KB: The office manager must have a conversation with the gossipy staff member and not avoid the situation. Feedback from managers who are successful in these coaching and counseling situations reveal a few common threads that they share: For starters, they all speak to their staff with honesty, responsibility, and good intent. They are not trying to belittle, blame, or scold their employees. Second, they all know how to use their “pause” and “resume” buttons. In other words they can listen to what the staff person is saying— no matter how off-track it may appear—without losing the focus and direction of the main conversation. And finally, they carefully choose the time and place for the conversation. Having enough time in an interruption-free location is far more effective than a quick word in the corridor just before lunch.

NHP: In Watercooler Wisdom you offer a series of “mini-makeovers” that workers can use when they’re feeling stressed or burned-out. Can you give us an example of one?

KB: The mini-makeovers are a fast and convenient way of brushing up on specific core principles covered in the book. One of them is “The Energy Booster,” recommended for when you’re feeling bogged down, burned-out, or sluggish. Start by making a short list of a few items that you need to complete—a phone call, an e-mail, filing, and so on. Then take a look at the clock and give yourself, say, thirty clear minutes to get as many list items done as possible. As you get them done, actually check them off the list and enjoy that yee-haw! pick-me-up feeling.

NHP: You offer something called “The 4-D Plan” to enhance organization in the workplace. What is this?

KB: The 4-D Plan helps smart people leave work at the end of the day with a feeling of completion and closure. Use one of the four D’s on all of your daily tasks: DO IT NOW. Whenever possible do the task rather than waiting until later—when that’s not possible use one of the following three. DO IT LATER. We recommend writing it down for a specific time and day. DELEGATE IT. If you can delegate the item, then do so. It empowers others and frees you up for less routine items. DUMP IT. Items that you keep scheduling but never seem to get done might just be things that you have no commitment to accomplishing. Look at the item, and if you honestly don’t think you’ll ever do it, dump it and move on.