All organizations attempt to disseminate good management practices amongst their collaborators and to generate a positive environment for achieving the so yearned excellence. To do so, managers undergo training, hire consultants, read publications by management gurus, but usually find that the path toward excellence is plagued with obstacles.

Destructive behaviors exist even in the best organizations. Selfishness, malice, fear, laziness, dishonesty, and envy, amongst others, are examples of negative feelings that frustrate positive actions. A study carried out by Andrew Miller, referred to by McKinsey consulting firm, concludes that negative interactions with superiors and colleagues generates an impact on corporate performance 5 times greater than positive actions do.

To disseminate the positive, it is first necessary to get rid of bad attitudes. Huggy Rao and Robert Sutton, researchers at the University of Stanford, published the book “Scaling Up Excellence”, in which they develop 6 recommendations.

The first is related to the “broken windows” theory. This refers to the fact that when a window is left unrepaired in a home, soon other windows will end up broken, too. Likewise, permitting bad attitudes in organizations is an indicator that no one is concerned with the matter, and this fosters the extent of negative manifestations. One must act fairly, though firmly, to uproot these types of attitudes.

The second recommendation has to do with the leadership put into practice by managers. Leaders who take into account small details help to diminish negativism. Too much rhetoric and not enough action contribute nothing.

The third recommendation proposes transmitting the importance of offering an adequate service, as obvious as this may seem. A survey carried out by the “Customer Contact Council” in the United States with 75,000 consumers revealed that the majority do not seek an extraordinary service, but merely an adequate one. Poor service is what tarnishes a company. Bad experiences are not forgotten.

The fourth recommendation entails preparing groups of collaborators on communication techniques, to make known the effects that poor attitudes have on management results.

The fifth recommendation warns of the “enchantment of the prohibited”, the romanticism behind the rebel attitude that borders the criminal. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman indicates the group pressure favors the expression of negative attitudes, attitudes which are not manifested on an individual level.

The sixth recommendation suggests helping collaborators to project themselves and make them see how negative attitudes threaten their future goals.

Last of all but not the least important is to know how to interpret signs indicating that bad attitudes are present or in the making.

The fear of assuming responsibilities, the presence of feelings of injustice, the sensation of impotence when facing the rigors demanded by one's work, must be seen as clear indicators of an organization's deteriorating health, which will threaten any effort to escalate efficiency for achieving an outstanding organization.