Optimism - Really?

My last posting on the subject of optimism seemed to generate some interest. I was surprised to find that two potential clients had read it, and felt the need to comment on it. I've also had a couple of emails to go along with the comments on the blog. One of the comments seemed to sum up the general response:

if nobody reads this thing, why bother posting it anyway?

In one sentence the author, about whom I was unable to find any information, managed to convey a lot. He - and I will assume it is a male reader for absolutely no good reason - immediately supposes that no-one reads this blog. What a pessimistic view - but one that I would categorise as typically British (or more typically English). We live in a culture that does not embrace optimism - rather living in a cynical and unemotional world. Fortunately I am blessed with some readers - but, of course, the author himself presumably read the blog before commenting.

He finishes with a "why bother". Well even if I had no readers at all, part of the reason for writing this blog is self-satisfaction - I do it partly for the simple joy of doing it. And why not?

My comment author was not alone, however, in questioning the place of optimism in business. "Business is  a serious endeavour...", I was told on one occasion (by someone working in a not-for-profit organisation too), and he went on to suggest that there was no place for, or need for, optimism in a "grown-up" business.

I disagree. Strongly. All too often, the optimistic response is not considered by mature businesses. I recently set up a "Disaster Response Training Session" for a client. We talked through a scenario of a fire on the floor above my client's offices. The attendees were great  - but did not consider the most optimistic outcome. Happy to consider the total loss of their offices and all their data, they did not, before I prompted them, consider the outcome that had the fire protection working, the data security working and their people doing all the right things. From a risk management point of view, this is not good. From a morale point of view it's not good either.

There is nothing wrong in looking at the optimistic outcome as well as the more pessimistic ones.

The same applies to strategic planning and marketing. Perhaps you already have the competitive advantage; perhaps you already have the competences that are needed to thrive in a market. Perhaps your strategy will work to the point of needing more staff, more offices, more support? These situations must be considered.

Be optimistic - there is nothing wrong with it. You will examine the same options as a pessimistic, but perhaps add a few new ones of your own. Given the choice, optimism is, if nothing else, easier to live with.

Optimism

In the last 12 months, two different blog posts have struck a particular chord with me. I wrote in August about lessons from a musician (see here). One of the main thoughts from her post was to "have inspired conversations". Last week I read a piece from comedian Mark Watson on the subject of optimism. He writes very well about trying to be more optimistic, particularly since his natural inclination is to be pessimistic.

The same is true in the two fields in which I work. I searched "The Lawyer" today for optimistic stories. On starting to read through the various items, I realised that I needed a good definition of "optimistic" - after all, was  the news that a firm had won some business optimistic? This way I could separate what might be a good news story from real optimism. The definition I most enjoyed (and, of course, I was selecting the most favourable definition according to my own set of unconscious psychological filters) was the following from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (revised 2009) was:

an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome

With that definition in mind, I started to trawl the "The Lawyer" web site, and was surprised and a little disappointed to be unable to find a really optimistic story. I rejected stories about firms re-starting partner distributions because I didn't think they were doing it because  they were anticipating the best possible outcome. This was perhaps good news (certainly for the partners concerned) but the story was not optimistic. The closest I got was a story about sets of chambers discussing the post-LSA environment. I suppose it was optimistic, but I didn't really feel optimistic having read it. Perhaps it was the reporting, since it is rare for journalists to use optimism - I don't think it sells.

I decided that I should examine my own "house" before looking any further. Before this one, I have 96 posts on my blog. Looking as dispassionately as possible, I decided that less than ten were optimistic (although a fair number were at least upbeat!).

Looking more widely at the world of business, I found it hard to find much in the way of optimism. Most stories mentioning optimism also used the words "cautious", "waning", and "limited". I'm not sure that real optimism can be "cautious" - isn't the point that optimism is many steps away from caution?

Optimism is much more visible in the world of charities. The only word regularly added to optimism in this world in my experience in "blind". Charities have to be optimistic - they have to believe they are doing the best thing in the best way. With belief, commitment and optimism they can conquer the world...

This is a lesson to be learnt for the world of business. I have spoken with many people from many firms of different sizes over the last few months and have come away with the over-riding impression that staff, management and owners have become worn down. It is not, however, poor economic news that depresses people and firms, nor is it poor performance. It is a lack of optimism.

I do not suggest that we should all blindly stick our heads in the sand and shout "everything will be fine!". What I do suggest is that we should all try to anticipate the best possible outcome - or at least to try that more often than we do. Optimism lifts people in organisations.

Be optimistic - it's alright! Make sure that the best possible outcome is included in your analysis, into your strategic thinking and into your interactions with colleagues and staff. If you are a manager, try to create a mood of optimism in your team. Optimistic people are happy people and happy people are more effective in everything that they do.

Optimism is, after all, perception. By turning our heads slightly and looking at the world in a more optimistic manner, we might not improve the world - but it will undoubtedly seem and feel better, and that is surely a good thing.

Positive Mental Attitude

I hope that these posts will become a useful source of information (and occasional inspiration). While I'm setting the systems up - how about a starting thought?

Is it really all that bad?

I know that new news each day seems to be full of doom and gloom, but it can't all be bad, surely? There was good new last week in the FT (see http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7caf2c14-fa23-11dd-9daa-000077b07658.htmlLong), but, my goodness, you had to search for it. Is this fondness for bad news a self-fulfilling prophesy? As I understand it, one of the best drivers of recovery is confidence. So come on - let's all start to have a more positive (if careful) attitude. It might help.