He's jumping to conclusions. "Get rid of bad apples" sounds horribly intolerant. In the real world it is possible that the pessimist, the sceptic, the unmotivated or even the jerk may just see a problem the others don't want to aknowledge.
It's just as easy to jump to the opposite conclusions: a bad apple makes a group question the validity of its goals. A group who spends time making sure its goals are worthy is bound to be less productive, but is more likely to do the right thing.
In my experience, there's a good and bad way to do it. There's a huge difference between bringing up negative points and whining or complaining. My rule was always - If you've got something you've got issue with, propose some action with it.
I found myself breaking the rule and complaining about East Coast weather a lot. So I then amended it to, "I hate this weather. I'm moving to Spain or California in the next year", then I took gradual steps to set myself up for it. Then I went to Barcelona, spent some time there, and now I'm in Los Angeles. "This project seems to be sucking huge manhours - I wonder if there's a way we can outsource the real grindwork here?" --> Very, very cool. "This project seems to be sucking huge manhours. I hate this. This sucks." --> Totally not okay.
Well, I think there's a distinction. He's saying people a bad apples are people who are skeptics, unmotivated, etc. but do not suggest anything better.
If they're skeptical of your idea or whatever, they should add constructive input instead of dragging on everyones spirits.
Just playing devil's advocate, but why would that person have to have a better idea? A person doesn't necessarily need to be in possession of good ideas in order to be able to sniff out bad ones.
Though I admit, it would be weird if someone can tell an idea is bad, but not be able to say why. In that case I think the detractor deserves to be ignored on the grounds of insufficient proof.
If there are bad apples in a team, they deserve some kind of presumption of innocence. The manager should at least try to find out what's wrong. I've seen bad apples who were frustrated because they weren't listened to, and they did have good ideas which they could explain. In those particular cases I did not witness how this situation developed, but I have no doubt that bad management can produce bad apples.
All you can say about bad apples is that they point to a problem. To fire them without asking is shooting the messenger.
I think part of the point was to recognise if you are being the bad apple, and changing attitude, thereby "getting rid of the bad apple".
Certainly seems consistent with what I have experienced (I see myself falling into the "depressive" dysfunction from time to time, and I know plenty of people who could be #2).
It's just as easy to jump to the opposite conclusions: a bad apple makes a group question the validity of its goals. A group who spends time making sure its goals are worthy is bound to be less productive, but is more likely to do the right thing.