Why Singapore organisations need pessimists on their teams

As a manager, you may completely baulk at the notion of having a pessimist on your team. But there is a breed of pessimist called Defensive Pessimists, who are able to transmute their penchant for pessimism into a strong suit and harness anxiety as motivation to deliver exceptional results.

Here's why these people should be an essential part of your team.

Give defensive pessimists a project and their anxiety over the possibility of failure will ensure that they succeed at almost every task. That fear of failure is actually used as a defence mechanism and they will channel that energy into action, as they strive for perfection because they are, after all, perfectionists at heart.

Defensive pessimists, therefore, focus on the negative aspects of the situation; they anticipate negative results but are able to control their anxiety beforehand so that it does not affect task performance. They prepare for a situation by setting low expectations of themselves and follow up with a very detailed expectation of what could go wrong.

Once they have imagined the full range of possible negative outcomes, they will come up with a meticulous plan of how to handle the various worst-case scenarios that may arise – and that gives them a sense of control.

As a result, he or she is mentally prepared for anything, including failure. And in the rare event that the individual does fail, he or she was ready for it so the impact isn’t as catastrophic. This translates to a higher degree of resilience that will enable them to bounce back faster. 

There is a growing body of empirical research in recent years to support the theory that defensive pessimism is used as an effective strategy for managing fear, anxiety and worry over a perceived negative outcome so that defensive pessimists can work productively and strive to achieve a consistently high level of performance.

It is important to note, however, the difference between defensive pessimists and dispositional pessimists. The latter refers to pessimism motivated by the individual’s mood state and while dispositional pessimists also anticipate negative results, the disparity is in their performance.

Dispositional pessimists exhibit less perceived control, which usually means that they do not take the necessary action required towards achieving their goals. This generates a feeling of helplessness that makes them focus more on their limitations for performing the tasks, and creates a spiral of anxiety that overwhelms them, which increases over time.

Needless to say, their performance suffers or even results in non-performance, and they end up as underachievers due to negativism or apathy. So as a manager, this is how you tell apart a defensive pessimist who will contribute positively to your team from a dispositional pessimist, who will suck energy from your workforce.

Defensive pessimists bring a different perspective and level of energy to your team. With their anal-retentive nature, they add a degree of pressure to get things done – on time – as they always strive for excellence in everything they do.

Additionally, they are exceptionally cautious and meticulous; they will triple check each task and then check through one more time, just in case. “Thorough” is the name of their game.

These are the people you particularly want as accountants, auditors, police or security officers, engineers, forensic scientists, investigators, and aerospace personnel, to name a few.

Equipped with the ability to play the devil’s advocate well, defensive pessimists are also good negotiators and will excel as part of the management team or board of directors.

A word of caution, though: Don't try to pressure defensive pessimists into being optimistic. Because research shows that if defensive pessimists try to artificially raise their expectations of the outcome or avoid playing through a worst-case analysis in their minds, their anxiety increases and their performance will suffer. So just let nature prevail and they won’t let you down.