The business diagnostic manual

In today`s pathology-driven society in which research is constantly turning up new psychological disorders and normal has become almost a swearword, there are still some characteristics, although considered to be on the lunatic fringe, that may not signify a disordered mind when applied to a business environment.

Workplace hypochondriacs can see the faults in the best-laid plans, allowing for a chance to troubleshoot and perfect.

Jill Hamlyn, MD, The People Business

Utilised in moderation, these peculiarities may just be what the doctor ordered when it comes to giving leaders and managers a business edge in this millennium.

The first behavioural symptom that could be quite appropriate for some within the business field is paranoia. Chairman and CEO of Intel, Andrew Grove, was voted Time Magazine`s Man of the Year in 1997. Among the characteristic adjectives used to describe him in Time`s article, paranoia was mentioned a couple of times.

I believe that the art of looking over your shoulder and constantly checking and evaluating the environment in order not to be overtaken or surprised by unforeseen circumstances is an asset in the business world. The paranoia generated by the suspicion that someone may get there before you do is often the drive behind many success stories.

Although obsessiveness is often criticised within the workplace, it can present itself in two important guises. The first is a happy obsession with what you do. When one considers how much time is spent at work and working, it becomes of paramount importance to enjoy what you do. Without this enjoyment, or at the very least a modicum of satisfaction, the workday becomes sterile and the job becomes solely an exchange of labour for money.

This may not be a dissatisfactory situation in most people`s lives, but a common theme for fulfilment is being driven by passion from within for the work that you do on a daily basis. This passion makes a substantial contribution to a feeling of well-being and usefulness.

The second type of obsessiveness could also be termed an attention to fine details. This may present itself as an insistence on working late to check an important document before a meeting or presentation, or the careful follow-through of a project from beginning to end no matter how many hiccups there may be along the way. In severe cases of obsessiveness, meeting all commitments and deadlines is certainly indicative of professional behaviour. In both cases, obsessiveness is certainly a trait that separates the mediocre from the high flyers.

Closely allied to obsessiveness is perfectionism. Perfectionism is often regarded with a mixture of irritation and resignation by those around the perfectionist, but a little bit of perfectionism can go a long way. There comes a time in business when, to quote Richard Carlson, it is imperative to sweat the small stuff. An accumulation of small issues ignored over time can have as much impact as one big problem.

The perfectionist usually utilises the traits of obsessiveness and a desire to be the best in achieving his or her ends. If there is at least one perfectionist in a team of people, it is almost guaranteed that this is the team that is continually challenged to produce their best work by the acute observations of a person unwilling and unable to accept second best.

The hyperactive person who keeps busy and does not waste or steal time adds value to the workplace and often feels most fulfilled in their personal contribution to the working environment. In my opinion, people who are not hyperactive are often not striving to reach their full potential. Those who bask in complacency often have a lack of understanding of the environment in which they exist, and in order to justify their existence, they resort to sabotage and emotional destruction which is often based on their inability to maintain the pace. In addition, leaders and managers cannot afford to operate this way or they will self-destruct.

Those with attention deficit disorder have a tendency to concentrate on what is going on around them. Those who are able to let their minds go are able to be creative and are not solely influenced by the prevailing structure and rules. This enables survival. Conversely, those who are shackled by rules and regulations sometimes need to get out of their own little world in order to be able to empathise with others.

The hypochondriacs of the workplace are those who tend to exaggerate the smallest problem, constantly look for molehills in order to make mountains out of them, and are not happy unless things are going wrong. We all acknowledge that situations do go wrong and that nothing is perfect all the time, so spending less energy on moaning and more on sorting out is the cure for this particular malady. However, although it is easy to laugh off the doomsayers, especially those who have a tendency to cry wolf, these are sometimes the oracles worth listening to.

Workplace hypochondriacs can see the faults in the best-laid plans, allowing for a chance to troubleshoot and perfect. A good leader or manager will take note of the hypochondriacs in their workplace and use any constructive thoughts to their advantage.

It may be easy to abuse diagnosis, and terms and insults such as `kleptomaniac` (compulsive thief of time) and `multiple personality` (used to describe managers who have an element of this in their makeup in order to truly understand the people they are working with) may fly across the room. However, far from being the abnormal diagnosis that many would gleefully pounce on, in the workplace these so-called behavioural disorders tend to be characteristics embodied by people as a reaction to the environment in which they are placed. In this scenario, these characteristics have an adaptive function. Within the working environment it is the drive within leaders that often differentiates a team, division or company in its own individual quest for survival, enabling differentiation.

The plenitude of suggestive literature that guides and directs us in the pursuit of a balanced and thus more `healthy` lifestyle contradicts the behaviour that makes businesses work. Successful business people know this. Others fall back on this literature in order to defend their inappropriate behaviour and giving less than successful performers the armoury to challenge, criticise or condemn those within their environment who utilise these seemingly pathological behaviours as motivators.

Although not inherent in everybody, perhaps those who do not wish to command the vessel through the current stormy seas should acknowledge commitment for those who possess these traits as it is these people who, at the end of the day, ensure that the ship does not sink and thus create a livelihood for those who are `passengers` on board.

Given the current state of business and the necessity of keeping up with the ever-changing playing fields, we need to encourage individuals who do possess and utilise these characteristics to their fullest extent. These are the leaders who will make things work whatever the prevailing circumstances.

Psychologists use the term comorbidity to describe two or three disorders that tend to present together. It is likely that there would be a high rate of comorbidity between the so-called pathologies described above and that together these could be the driving force behind many of the businesses of the millennium. Like everything, these traits probably work best in low doses and, in the right measurement and with no distress to the individual, they can be a positive impetus to the future. So the next time someone calls you a paranoid obsessive perfectionist, it can be taken as a compliment.