Complainers

I was reading an article where someone pointed out that in the military, "a griping soldier is a happy soldier". I don't know what is the exact meaning of that phrase but I think it means that a griping soldier is really just pissed off at the little stuff that he/she encounters and really likes being in the military. This makes me think of the work place, organizations etc. You always will find people complaining. Some don't complain at all, seemingly to just do what they're told. Others seem always disgusted but don't say much. Others complain all the time. The test I think is to see what happens after a time.

Isolate your people mentally and observe them for a month or even a year. If the guy who is not complaining is still around, you have the best, even though you'll have to check on him all the time to make sure he's alright. He's the guy who is just focused on what he/she has to do and is not looking around. This guy is the one to turn to when you just want to get something done. He's the guy that will do as he's told.

Now the guy who's not saying much and always seem disgruntled is really not happy and will go as soon as the opportunity comes. Don't invest much in him. He'll leave. He's just internalizing what he's thinking. He's thinking that this job/organization sucks, the people suck, the environment suck and all he wants to do is get out of there.

The loud complainer who's still around is the one who is your most productive. "Productive", you say? Yes, productive. You'll get your money's worth out of this guy. Look at what he complains about. While others might shut up, he might be complaining about a problem the organization has that if not fixed can lead to its downfall. Of course he/she might be saying things that may not be wrong but listening to him would give you clues as to what's going on and what needs to be fixed. You'll know when she is bee-essing, but only if you really listen to her. In essence, they're complaining because of what they would like to see change for the better (really their better). The trick is to make them not spread too much venom. They might be too vocal and what they have to say may not be taken too well by others. Some might agree and become disgruntled, turning into the guy in the second category mentioned above. Others might just begin looking at your loud complainer and hope for their departure. Lose the loud complainer and you can find yourself out of touch. The thing to do is to bring your loud complainer in and give them a place where they can say what they want. Listen. Don't argue back or anything. Just let them vent. From them you can start getting proposals as to how changes can be made. If the changes made become fruitful, you might just have gotten yourself an ally. If not, then you can always say that they were not right. This can have the effect on quieting things down a bit, but you can still deftly keep the info flowing as you really would need it. As the adage goes, the noisy door gets fixed.