Blind positivity may also be due to off-loading of responsibilities. If I off-load responsibility to my team and take no care in understanding their needs, I can definitely say nothing is wrong in the face of my team's hardship. If I take responsibility for my team and their hardships, I both reinforce that we are a team (I have your back) and that we can get through it together. Very fulfilling as a team to overcome something together, which strengthens the team and achieves better team synthesis.
I have Long Covid. I lose 2 or 3 days every week, and have done for almost a year. But I know it's temporary! The good days are more often, the bad days rarer. I'll get through this because I am fundamentally an optimist.
Big time appreciate you Simon! Your books have changed my business, by changing me, my perspective on how I serve and see people. Thank you for your work Simon.
THANK YOU What gets lost in this, is that, if you have been with the company for awhile, you know there is something wrong. Orders are down, overtime is cancelled, there are clues that something is going on. The question is what and how bad.
The company direction is always to spin something as positive, where as communicating the need in an optimistic way allows us to be vulnerable about the now, and bring a vision of the future. I always direct my reports to be as authentic as possible. Which is different than what my managers want me to do. But it works.
Thanks for the interesting content! 😍 I’ve got a question: 🤨 I only have these words 🤔. (behave today finger ski upon boy assault summer exhaust beauty stereo over). Not sure how to use them, would appreciate help. 🙏
The Stockdale Paradox is a technique to navigate challenging and ambiguous times by combining the ability to confront the brutal facts of your current reality, even as you maintain unwavering faith that you will prevail in the end, no matter how distant that
The useless boss I have keeps saying: “I wouldn’t want to be any of our competitors”. In fact our company’s weakness is that we are self-referenced and never compare our performances to those of our competitors. He speaks first delighting himself hearing his voice for half an hour and basically telling us what he wants us to say. Mentioning a problem to him is an open act of defiance: punishment is to be expected. Being a former CFO, he just looks at figures and never engages himself in any discussion on the business. We are basically tools in his inventory to make him get the global CEO position.
Realistically, plausible deniability takes optimistic and amps up realism through the wisdom it teaches, but exposes catastrophically any department that uses it to send a message. Perfect example where to witness it is during divorce and custody issues where a 3rd party becomes a triphecta yourself is not aware of, feels often like checkmate on the flip side because its the department(s) agenda 📋 never yours.
Disclaimer: this is my own personal opinions. As leaders, it is our job to guide, mentor, direct, and motivate the people under our care. So even when the times are bad, they will still look to use for inspiration and an answer to, "What do we do?". And I think what Simon is attempting to explain is that in those moments, we should not hide the reality of the situation, but we must still find the right words and actions to get people to 'see' a better future. If they believe that the future will be permanently worse than the present, they will lose all hope and energy, considering it a lost cause. So you must convince them to think that the future is not only worth staying for, but worth contributing towards. And going back to the blind positivity vs optimism, the difference is that you don't hide the present in an attempt to envision the future.
Not necessarily. You can still be optimistic and realistic at the same time. Blind positivity is when you're trying to "be positive", but not accept the situation or come out with a solution. Whereas optimism as Simon explains, can rally the team and be practical about the situation they are in. Everyone pulls their weight and works together to overcome whatever struggle or obstacle they're in. And to your point that Realism trumps both optimism and pessimism, that same thing can lead to either of them. Like if realistically speaking, someone lost their job (that person can very well be pessimistic that they'll never get another one or optimistic that they'll find a solution to get a new one). There is no one or the other, there can a blending of the concepts.
