> Question 1.
> We developed a measure of how central work is in your life, Now and in the
> Future. There was a drop in this work centrality rating (from now to the
> future) across all industries.
Exercises to hypothesize an ideal future are a staple in time management
training because they allow participants to let loose of rigid thinking
patterns that are keeping them from changing behavior. They do this by
releasing the participant from the rules and restrictions of today's
workplace. It is always easier to ask someone to describe a perfect day
five years from now than it is to describe a perfect day today. My guess
is that a similar process is at work here if you are asking people to
compare a possible future compared to a known present.
>Question 3.
> Throughout the sample there seems to be a generally pessimistic outlook
> for
> work in the future. Any thoughts about this finding????
Pessimism is contagious and IMHO appears to be a default emotion in at
least 25% of the general population. It is also highly overrated since
optimism is also contagious and also appears to be a default emotion for a
quarter of the population. Measures of pessimism are generally relative
instruments, not absolute indicators.
--Lon Badgett lonbadgett@aol.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>