The workplace has an optimism crisis. Here’s why that matters—and what to do about it

We are losing one of the most powerful drivers of performance at work, the expression of optimism. That is what I am seeing in 11 years of workplace data. While people still call themselves optimists, they are less likely these days to share that optimism with others. And given that optimism has been linked to a wide range of positive business and health outcomes, that decline matters. Measuring optimism Since 2015, more than 25,000 working professionals have taken the Success Scale, an assessment my research team and I use to measure optimism and expression at work. Across 11 years of results, roughly eight in 10 respondents still describe themselves as optimistic about their future at work. But how people describe themselves and how they act are not always the same thing. What has changed is their behavior. People are less likely to express the optimism they do have. Compared with the earlier years of the study, the share who report telling at least three other people when they feel optimistic fell from 37% to 30%. Starting three or more conversations a day on a positive note dropped from 48% to 41%. And responding positively when a colleague introduced a new idea fell from 53% …