The Salty Business of Prosocial Behaviour in Business

When we are in business, having wise discernment is a great tool. Who we choose to listen to and who to keep at a friendly distance is important. 

You may have heard the saying, "Take what that person says with a grain of salt." Or we could ask ourselves whose salt is worth seasoning on your recipe for success? 

Human beings have a propensity for negative bias. So what does this mean? When someone is speaking to us, we can sometimes only hear the negative. For those open to ideas and constructive feedback, having conversations with those who can be trusted is important. On the other hand, if we are open and someone else has an agenda, negative feedback can be destructive, knocking our confidence in small convert ways and rubbing salt in the wound.

Choosing our actions, words, and intentions carefully is pivotal in prosocial common-pool behaviour. 

So what is prosocial common pool behaviour? 

Prosocial behaviours are considered beneficial to others and are influenced by cognitive (cost and reward assessment) and affective (arousal and emotion) processes. Prosocial behaviour is the intent to benefit other people or society. The common-pool idealogy is normally attributed to a public/private hybrid resource. 

A common pool resource is a resource that is advantageous for a group of people. However, this diminishes if an individual pursues their own self-interest. Prosocial common-pool behaviour involves individuals working together to achieve a common goal. 

If we adapt these two theories to social groups, networking or an organisation, we start to see an idea emerge. Recent studies show prosocial behaviour is imperative, making deposits in the "emotional bank account" when facing adversity. It builds resilience! 

Encouraging prosocial common-pool behaviour can be challenging because, let's face it, the business world is a community of eclectic personalities, right? But several strategies can be effective. 

Here are some examples:

1. Foster a sense of community: Encouraging individuals to feel a sense of belonging and connection to the group can help promote prosocial behaviour. This can be achieved through community events, team-building exercises, or other activities promoting social interaction and collaboration.
2. Establish clear rules and norms: Clearly defined rules and norms can help guide behaviour and ensure that everyone in the group knows what is expected of them. This can help prevent conflicts and promote cooperation. Boundaries people!
3. Provide feedback and recognition: Providing feedback and recognition for prosocial behaviour can help reinforce it and encourage others to engage in similar behaviour. This can be as simple as thanking individuals for their contributions or publicly recognising their efforts.
4. Foster trust and cooperation: Trust and cooperation are key to prosocial behaviour. Building trust can involve establishing relationships, being transparent and honest, and following through on commitments. In addition, collaboration and communication activities like brainstorming sessions or problem-solving workshops can encourage cooperation.
5. Contribute! Are you taking more than you are giving? Do you intend to invest in the engine without expecting to grease your wheel? 

Sources: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/economics-econometrics-and-finance/prosocial-behavior

https://doi.org/10.1080/0022250X.2021.2021513

How can you contribute to the positive space where you may draw social resources? How are you showing up in the arena? If it is with the intention of positivity, you are worth your weight in salt! 

To quote the amazing Brene Brown: 

"If you are not in the Arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in or open to your feedback. There are a million cheap seats in the world today filled with people who will never be brave with their own lives but will spend every ounce of energy they have hurling advice and judgement at those of us trying to dare greatly. Their only contributions are criticism, cynicism, and fear-mongering. So if you're criticising from a place where you're not also putting yourself on the line, I'm not interested in your feedback." Brene Brown

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." 

Theodore Roosevelt - Paris on April 23, 1910