Why You Should Stop Complaining at Work

Since COVID impacted our lives, I don’t go to the gym that often. When I go, I usually see Tony. Tony is still Tony. He’s a chronic complainer. It’s usually about something he doesn’t like.

The other day, he was chatting with another member at the gym. She gave me a smile, while he was talking. It was her way to warn me he was complaining again. I know everyone complains, including me. But there’s a limit on how much you can complain until it does you more harm than good.

Early in my career, I worked with a gentleman named Bob. We were both production planners responsible for making sure the factory was meeting its production deadlines. During our weekly status meeting, Bob was complaining to our manager again about an issue in the factory. The boss ignored Bob’s comment until another coworker, Alan, said he was experiencing the same problem.

Bob became angry because when he brought up the issue, it went unanswered. The boss said, “Bob, you complain all the time. Alan rarely complains. You should save up your complaints for something that’s really important to you.”

What our manager was trying to explain to Bob was that people stop listening to you if you complain too much. You lose your credibility. They don’t take you seriously if you constantly nit-pick about unimportant details.

That’s what happened to Bob. People stopped listening to him. When that happened, his job became more difficult. He became powerless. Eventually, Bob was let go.

I kept in touch with Bob over the years. He jumped from one job to another until he became a driver for one of the major American multinational shipping and receiving companies. It was the perfect job for Bob. He spent most of his time out on the road delivering packages. It was just him and his truck. No one to complain to.

If you want to have a successful career it takes more than education and experience. You also need to be able to work with your coworkers. That’s why it’s important to sharpen your social skills and not be a constant whiner. It also helps to smile once in a while. People like to be around cheerful and positive people. Nobody wants to work with someone who is hard to get along with.

You can read my other articles about money at HumbleDollar https://humbledollar.com/author/dennis-friedman/.