Can We Be Positive Pessimists?
Bryan Yager
My passion is helping leaders, teams and organizations achieve results and expand their capacity for growth and success.
First a quote: “Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute.” – George Bernard Shaw
Revised and reprinted. Originally published on July 26, 2021
Good morning and happy Monday!
I am often asked to lead workshops on the power and importance of diversity within teams and organizations. As you might correctly assume, there is often a focus on gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation in most corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Without minimizing the important topics above, the importance of diversity of all kinds is important to successful teams, organizations, communities, and indeed life itself. Diversity also includes education, experience levels, approaches to problem solving, and our general outlook on life; just to name a few.
There is also a need for diversity in terms of personalities, working & thinking styles, and leadership tendencies. Below are a handful of examples to consider:
When it comes to diversity in thinking, which is more important, optimism or pessimism? Which style is better? What are your thoughts? I submit both are important, and both are needed for the long-term success and survival of our organizations. I often address this topic while teaching strategic thinking skills and best practices.
While teaching on the importance of positive leadership with the senior leadership team from one of the country’s largest food companies, a senior executive interrupted with the following comment:
“It is irresponsible for senior leaders to not be pessimistic! Let me repeat, IRRESPONSIBLE!”
He continued, “If someone isn’t concerned with ‘what could go wrong’, they are not doing their jobs as leaders.
Not being prepared for the worst possible scenarios could be devastating. In our case as a food company, we could be responsible for a serious food borne illness, or our ‘brand’ could be severely damaged, or we could be forced to close plants and lay off employees.
The leader finished with, “We should all be skilled at being pessimistic, and yet I agree that knowing how, and when, to express that pessimism is also important.”
As a self-proclaimed optimist, I agree with his statement and his rationale. The ability to see, and foresee, problems is an important leadership skill. Perhaps there weren’t enough pessimists on the leadership teams at Kodak, Blockbuster, Nokia, or Sears to name a few. The same might have been said about the leadership crew on the Titanic on that fateful April day in 1912.
So, I propose we stop passing judgement on each other as optimists, pessimists, and those who describe themselves as realists. All styles are important, and all have value in different ways and at different times. Like with any tool, knowing when, and how, to use the tool is most important.
My question for you today is, “Can I, can you, be a Positive Pessimist?” I suggest the answer is yes. Here are a few tips for your consideration:
Positive pessimism… I like the sound of that. How about you? Would you be willing to offer your ideas on this topic??I know many of my pessimistic friends would value your advice.
How will you love, live, or lead, differently, or better, this week?
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Sincerely,
Bryan Yager
“Expanding Your Capacity for Success”
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