Negativity Breeds Negativity; A Vicious But Reversible Cycle

Recently, there has been an inordinate amount of coverage of our bleak growth figures; 0.2% between April and June.

Whilst this might be off track and a while behind Countries like India & China, who boast impressive rates of around 10%, let us cast our eyes back to yester years where the world and, increasingly, the UK was beleaguered by economic recession. In both 2008 and 2009, our growth was, in fact, negative.

However, just a year later, under the guidance of David Camerons Government, the UK's growth crept out of the red and into the elusive green, reaching 1.1% per quarter.

Unfortunately, such developments appear to have been, at large, overshadowed, downplayed and even forgotten in their entirety by the medias telling frenzy of negativity, which has, naturally, diffused across society.

Yes, our growth is less than ideal but it's still positive - in stark contrast to countries like Spain and Ireland, who, just a few years ago were the admiration of near enough every economist. "The Celtic tiger"; where is she now? In "-1.041%" growth for want of an answer.

With this in mind, the old, but ever pertinent, adage of "negativity breeds negativity" springs to mind. Maybe if the headlines read differently & the media placed greater emphasis on covering slightly more up lifting issues, rather than the threat of Asian markets & supposed double-dips, the UK's growth figures would portray a different story today.

For instance, little has been said of the private sectors sterling efforts in creating jobs. According to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), over the last year, private sector jobs are up 520,000 - the highest in British history.

Hence, is it time for positivity to breed positivity?

Such an issue relates increasingly to those in senior positions, principally managers. A scruffy one, despondently slumped at their desk for 90% of the year, doesn't work wonders for the team. As you can well imagine, it does quite the opposite.

So, if managers, the media, you, I, whoever, adopts, or at least tries to, a more optimistic outlook, we might find ourselves engrossed in a tide of positivity and if theory holds true; positivity equals productivity.

Agreed, its not as simple as that. Various factors, the majority far more complex than an individuals outlook, need to be working in unison with one another but what is there to lose in giving it a try? Its free after all!

On that note, here's to Tom Daly winning gold at the 2012 Olympics and a huge pay rise following this article winning the Nobel Prize.