John North Editor & Publisher

An article I read recently, headlined ìThe power of negative thinking,î piqued my interest because it so blatantly flies in the face of a cherished ideal that we Americans tout ó the power of positive thinking.

The power of positive thinking is widely believed to be the secret of success, although I often wonder if always seeing the world through rose-colored glasses is a wise course.

Indeed, ìthe key, it seems to me, is actually negative thinking: looking for, and sometimes expecting, failure,î Atul Gawande wrote in a May 1 guest column in The New York Times. Gawande is a general surgeon at Harvard Medical School, a New Yorker staff writer and the author of ìBetter: A Surgeonís Notes on Performance.î

For example, he cites the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, noting that it was puzzling how one institution could be responsible for helping to save the highest percentage of battle-wounded soldiers in history while ìproviding such disturbingly neglectful care afterward.î

A final report released by the militaryís independent review group revealed severe pressure on the staff everywhere at the hospital, with good people succeeding in some departments and not in others. The primary difference between success and failure stemmed from whether leaders accepted the value of negative thinking or not, according to Gawande.

To support his assertion, Gawande pointed to the hospital staffís helping to lower its death rate for wounded soldiers, which was 25 percent in the first Persian Gulf war, while today it is less than 10 percent. This result was achieved because medical personnel tracked negatives, such as weekly data on injuries and deaths.

ìEncouraged by leaders to think negatively,î medical staff members examined many other problems and instituted changes to address them, resulting in saving the lives and reducing the injuries of a substantially higher percentage of soldiers, Gawande noted.

Sadly, the approach to care afterward focused on successes and overlooked failures, which were everywhere to be seen, he added.

Therefore, when the horrific conditions were first exposed, a top Walter Reed official, trying to think positively, termed the situation a ìone-sided representation,î perhaps trying to avoid the unquestionable pain of negative thinking that would have forced him to address what was, in reality, a catastrophic failure.

Never an easy path, negative thinking ìinvolves finding and exposing your inadequacies, which can be overwhelming.î

Gawande said. ìAnd not every problem discovered can be solved. You live in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction.î

While he believes it would be unhealthy to be a negative thinker in large parts of oneís life, it can be helpful, at times, in running schools or businesses, in planning war, in caring for the sick and injured.

Although looking on the sunny side of life is often a pleasant endeavor, I think Gawande is offering sage advice in suggesting a balanced use of both positive and negative thinking to solve problems.

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John North, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .