Pressure. We're all under pressure. In fact, we're under a lot of pressure! The atmosphere is pushing us at about 14 pounds per square inch.
What? That doesn't seem like much? Okay, take a single die (one dice) and place it on your stomach. Now place a 14 pound bowling ball on that single die. That's 14 pounds per square inch.
We don't feel it because we're used to it. Depressurize a jet and you'd notice the absence of the pressure as your eyes bulge out and ears explode.
Ok, if there is THAT much pressure, we should be able to prove it---see it. You can!
Take a glass of water and fill it to about 1/4th with water. Put a post card or index card over the glass. Postcards are better because they are coated and will not get mushy as fast. Now, turn it over. The air pressure is strong enough to press against the post card and keep the water in the over-turned glass. Try it. f you need a post card, I'll send you one.
Then try the same experiment without the post card. Do it over the sink.
Why doesn't the water stay in the glass????? The pressure is the same and should be enough to hold the water in place.
Without the card, the water molecules go a little crazy. They are bumping around chaotically. Pretty soon enough molecules line up behind each other to exceed 14 pounds per square inch. The breakout happens.
Once enough water lines up to pierce the air pressure, down comes the water. Try it a few times and you'll notice something you've probably never thought about.
Flip the glass over. The water doesn't come out as a blob of jello. The falling surface isn't flat with a cylinder of water behind it. Rather, it flows out in a sort of V pattern. Once the pressure is pierced, the water lines up to go through the hole made by the puncture of the first molecules to line up with enough force to break out.
The technical term for this is a Rayleigh-Taylor instability.
So what has this got to do with business?
Well, because this tendency to line up and pierce pressure is natural, think about how a single 'bad apple' can spoil a team. The other members may not knowingly line up behind a negative member, but they do. Their negativity exerts just enough force to disrupt the total stability. Soon the negativity breaks through and you've got run away bad morale.
In this case, you need to even the pressure like we did with the glass of water when the post card was in place. The post card is not holding the water, the post is evening the water's pressure.
Even the pressure and you contain the....negative attitude. If you do not even the pressure, there will be a breakout.
How? You must train, counsel, discipline or fire troublemakers. If you fail to apply the post card, instability is certain. It's natural.
