Calm down. We haven't decided for a total 360 on our brand - we're still The Productive Pessimist, still a bit more "storms, spite, sarcasm" than "live, laugh, love" - it's just that it seems like a good time to remind people that pessimism doesn't mean doom and gloom and moaning about everything - it's simply assuming that things may not go the way you'd like them to, and planning on that assumption, so that, if they don't, you can dust yourself off and carry on anyway.
After all, if they do go they way you want...there's nothing stopping your onward progress, is there?! You hit a milestone - press on towards the goal!
2025
After all, if they do go they way you want...there's nothing stopping your onward progress, is there?! You hit a milestone - press on towards the goal!
2025
In a recent meeting, a retiring colleague from the property sector was asked what he imagined he'd see if he had a crystal ball for 2025; his response was "a steady recovery for the commercial sector."
The commercial sector doesn't just mean commercial property rentals, although that is my colleague's speciality. It means that British business is finally finding its feet as the echoes of the pandemic's aftermath begin to fade into life's white noise, and is coming to realise that governments come, they fiddle about, cause a lot of drama, pull out the firing pins on a few simmering societal tensions, upset an unspecified number of people, and then swan off into their other projects, and the business, community, and individual life needs to just carry on around their frothing, fidgeting, and finangling.
The commercial sector, not government, not the media, leads Britain as a society.
The commercial sector shows society whether we should be confident or cautious, whether we should be taking risks or taking stock.
The retail sphere of the commercial sector identifies our unmet needs, and our unexamined possibilities.
The hospitality sphere identifies the core socio-demographic "tribes" that make up our society, and shows us how those tribes can come together for lively, peaceable, mutually beneficial exchange. It also shows us how often, and in what ways, we need to relax - do we need more community, or more cocooning? More self-reflection, or more self-expression?
The professional services sector tells us what the most pressing problems are, and dictates the trending attitudes for the next twelve months.
Personal services introduce us to dynamic possibilities, and guide the development of new identities, expressions, attitudes, and alliances.
Manufacturing tells us what 'Brand GB' is going to be going forward, and, consequently, identifies the skills and strengths that the whole of the commercial sector should be looking for.
Logistics shows us how people want the things they need provided to them - on what timescales, in what kind of vehicle, with what type of attitude, and at what price point.
The energy industry guides our priorities, and reminds us of what "outdated" skills we still have, and what we really can't do ourselves - do we want to keep the lights on, but in fewer (meeting) rooms? Do we want individuals to bear some of the cost of the computing capacity that makes "business as usual" a lot quicker and easier than business has ever been? Are we comfortable allowing housing needs to be met by expensive, energy-hungry office blocks, where silos, and silo'd thinking, easily develop, so that people can benefit from gardens to dry their clothes and grow vegetables in, community land with native fruit trees and space to play, exercise, and relax? Do we want to be a country known for its fixed presence, its cumbersome response protocols, or for its ability to swiftly and excitedly fold up its stalls, and pitch new types of tents for new opportunities?
The private healthcare and education sectors tell us what is wanted for future-readiness, and remind us what is within our control.
Media and publishing show us who we could be, and who we are, as well as introducing us, at safe remove, from others, who could become our collaborators, and warning us, in a safe space, about the dangers that lie ahead on the courses we're currently pursuing as a society.
Arts and culture challenge us to face our shadow selves, comfort us when the world around us feels too unknown and unmanageable, and suggest alterations to our ways of thinking that bring about new ways of solving problems, and new ways of thinking about things.
These are big responsibilities, with a lot of potential to get it very badly wrong.
That's why The Productive Pessimist is here - to help you see just how wrong it could go, how many ways it could go that badly wrong - and the easiest, most efficient, and most cost-effective way to avoid all of the ways it could go wrong, and the options for rapid recovery if 'going wrong' proves unavoidable. (As most plans in 2020 did...)
Offerings
January is, apparently, National Mentoring Month, and, as such, we're offering 25% off on our two mentoring-related services - Success Coaching and Business Critical Friend; an hour of coaching is now under £35, and you can get a whole year of full-spectrum mentoring, including reciprocal mentoring and facilitated mentoring, plus rapid-response coaching-style support, for just £6,000. (Bookings must be made, and paid for in full, by Friday 31st January 2025, and are non-refundable unless cancelled by The Productive Pessimist Ltd, or with minimum 90 day notice by the client for long-term commitments.)
We'll be making our £10 Quick Question a regular weekly live event on our Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn - typically, this will be from 10am on Fridays. However, you'll still be able to book and get a response from us whenever you need it via email! (theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com)
Opportunities
The commercial sector doesn't just mean commercial property rentals, although that is my colleague's speciality. It means that British business is finally finding its feet as the echoes of the pandemic's aftermath begin to fade into life's white noise, and is coming to realise that governments come, they fiddle about, cause a lot of drama, pull out the firing pins on a few simmering societal tensions, upset an unspecified number of people, and then swan off into their other projects, and the business, community, and individual life needs to just carry on around their frothing, fidgeting, and finangling.
The commercial sector, not government, not the media, leads Britain as a society.
The commercial sector shows society whether we should be confident or cautious, whether we should be taking risks or taking stock.
The retail sphere of the commercial sector identifies our unmet needs, and our unexamined possibilities.
The hospitality sphere identifies the core socio-demographic "tribes" that make up our society, and shows us how those tribes can come together for lively, peaceable, mutually beneficial exchange. It also shows us how often, and in what ways, we need to relax - do we need more community, or more cocooning? More self-reflection, or more self-expression?
The professional services sector tells us what the most pressing problems are, and dictates the trending attitudes for the next twelve months.
Personal services introduce us to dynamic possibilities, and guide the development of new identities, expressions, attitudes, and alliances.
Manufacturing tells us what 'Brand GB' is going to be going forward, and, consequently, identifies the skills and strengths that the whole of the commercial sector should be looking for.
Logistics shows us how people want the things they need provided to them - on what timescales, in what kind of vehicle, with what type of attitude, and at what price point.
The energy industry guides our priorities, and reminds us of what "outdated" skills we still have, and what we really can't do ourselves - do we want to keep the lights on, but in fewer (meeting) rooms? Do we want individuals to bear some of the cost of the computing capacity that makes "business as usual" a lot quicker and easier than business has ever been? Are we comfortable allowing housing needs to be met by expensive, energy-hungry office blocks, where silos, and silo'd thinking, easily develop, so that people can benefit from gardens to dry their clothes and grow vegetables in, community land with native fruit trees and space to play, exercise, and relax? Do we want to be a country known for its fixed presence, its cumbersome response protocols, or for its ability to swiftly and excitedly fold up its stalls, and pitch new types of tents for new opportunities?
The private healthcare and education sectors tell us what is wanted for future-readiness, and remind us what is within our control.
Media and publishing show us who we could be, and who we are, as well as introducing us, at safe remove, from others, who could become our collaborators, and warning us, in a safe space, about the dangers that lie ahead on the courses we're currently pursuing as a society.
Arts and culture challenge us to face our shadow selves, comfort us when the world around us feels too unknown and unmanageable, and suggest alterations to our ways of thinking that bring about new ways of solving problems, and new ways of thinking about things.
These are big responsibilities, with a lot of potential to get it very badly wrong.
That's why The Productive Pessimist is here - to help you see just how wrong it could go, how many ways it could go that badly wrong - and the easiest, most efficient, and most cost-effective way to avoid all of the ways it could go wrong, and the options for rapid recovery if 'going wrong' proves unavoidable. (As most plans in 2020 did...)
Offerings
January is, apparently, National Mentoring Month, and, as such, we're offering 25% off on our two mentoring-related services - Success Coaching and Business Critical Friend; an hour of coaching is now under £35, and you can get a whole year of full-spectrum mentoring, including reciprocal mentoring and facilitated mentoring, plus rapid-response coaching-style support, for just £6,000. (Bookings must be made, and paid for in full, by Friday 31st January 2025, and are non-refundable unless cancelled by The Productive Pessimist Ltd, or with minimum 90 day notice by the client for long-term commitments.)
We'll be making our £10 Quick Question a regular weekly live event on our Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn - typically, this will be from 10am on Fridays. However, you'll still be able to book and get a response from us whenever you need it via email! (theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com)
Opportunities
For YOU:
. Mentor Role - in 2025, the leadership team of The Productive Pessimist Ltd will be looking to enter into mentorship ourselves, with our mentor benefiting from free access to all our services for the duration of the mentorship. (We anticipate minimum 12mths.)
What we're looking for in a Mentor:
. Someone with lived experience of disability and/or neurodiversity
. Someone with lived experience of real-world poverty in the UK
. Someone with access to financial and social capital opportunities
. Someone who is LGBTQ+ welcoming
. Someone with professional leadership experience across multiple sectors, and proven entrepreneurial success
. Someone used to working in a highly agile and dynamic way
. Someone who is comfortable with written communication
. Someone who is available for in-person meetings on a monthly basis in Lowestoft or central Norwich
If this sounds like you, reach out to Ash directly - email ashleyfordmcallister@yahoo.com
You'll be supporting both Ash and Morgana, in joint mentorship sessions. Written summaries of each session will be required, via email, as this is the way both of us most naturally 'cement' insights and information; email is required to facilitate Ash, who is registered blind, accessing written information easily.
. Investment - we're still open to financial capital investment, from £5000 to £100,000, and have Investor Packs ready to go - email Ash at ashleyfordmcallister@yahoo.com to express your interest, and receive an Investor Pack for you to consider at your leisure.
. Connection! - 2025's focus, for The Productive Pessimist's leadership, is going to be quality, direct, relevant, reciprocal connection. We don't want to collect a load of business cards - we want to have between 12-52 people we can meet personally, once a week, or once a month, for a coffee, a pint, or a walk along the seafront, and have real, meaningful, two-way conversation with.
We'd like our connections to also be professional-services entrepreneurs, ideally with lived experience of disability, neurodiversity, and/or LGBTQ+ identity.
If that sounds like you - drop us an email: theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com
. Mentor Role - in 2025, the leadership team of The Productive Pessimist Ltd will be looking to enter into mentorship ourselves, with our mentor benefiting from free access to all our services for the duration of the mentorship. (We anticipate minimum 12mths.)
What we're looking for in a Mentor:
. Someone with lived experience of disability and/or neurodiversity
. Someone with lived experience of real-world poverty in the UK
. Someone with access to financial and social capital opportunities
. Someone who is LGBTQ+ welcoming
. Someone with professional leadership experience across multiple sectors, and proven entrepreneurial success
. Someone used to working in a highly agile and dynamic way
. Someone who is comfortable with written communication
. Someone who is available for in-person meetings on a monthly basis in Lowestoft or central Norwich
If this sounds like you, reach out to Ash directly - email ashleyfordmcallister@yahoo.com
You'll be supporting both Ash and Morgana, in joint mentorship sessions. Written summaries of each session will be required, via email, as this is the way both of us most naturally 'cement' insights and information; email is required to facilitate Ash, who is registered blind, accessing written information easily.
. Investment - we're still open to financial capital investment, from £5000 to £100,000, and have Investor Packs ready to go - email Ash at ashleyfordmcallister@yahoo.com to express your interest, and receive an Investor Pack for you to consider at your leisure.
. Connection! - 2025's focus, for The Productive Pessimist's leadership, is going to be quality, direct, relevant, reciprocal connection. We don't want to collect a load of business cards - we want to have between 12-52 people we can meet personally, once a week, or once a month, for a coffee, a pint, or a walk along the seafront, and have real, meaningful, two-way conversation with.
We'd like our connections to also be professional-services entrepreneurs, ideally with lived experience of disability, neurodiversity, and/or LGBTQ+ identity.
If that sounds like you - drop us an email: theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com
For US:
Here at The Productive Pessimist Ltd, we're taking 2025 as an opportunity to connect, commit, and commence - to connect with people and their businesses, to commit our strengths to supporting your success, and to commence the building of a legacy that will last generations beyond our own mortal lifetimes.
Optimism?!
Let's be real...it's been an unreal few years, hasn't it?
I'm a pessimist; I don't believe that "it gets better." I am, however, a productive pessimist; I do believe that we get better at dealing with life's dross, disappointments, frustrations, heartaches, and curve balls - and that The Productive Pessimist Ltd offers the support to ensure you and your business do get better, even if nothing else does.
Drop us an email to book in that support for 2025: theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com
Optimism?!
Let's be real...it's been an unreal few years, hasn't it?
I'm a pessimist; I don't believe that "it gets better." I am, however, a productive pessimist; I do believe that we get better at dealing with life's dross, disappointments, frustrations, heartaches, and curve balls - and that The Productive Pessimist Ltd offers the support to ensure you and your business do get better, even if nothing else does.
Drop us an email to book in that support for 2025: theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com
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