The Productive Pessimist

  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 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...

  Resolve: "solve again." What's the point of that? Why 'solve something again' - resolve - when you can put Productive Pessimism to work to ensure it doesn't become a problem in the first place, and therefore doesn't need a solution. Many of us find we need some kind of 'psychological jump-off point' - how often do you find yourself saying "I'll start X project at 10.30am", only to feel, if you turn to it at 10.31am, that something is 'wrong', and you tell yourself that you can't possibly start until 11am now? The start of a new year is a huge psychological jump point. Not only do we feel a sense that we 'should' be doing something different, as a way to mark what we want to believe is a significant turning point, we're often more than ready for the invigoration of something new after what can sometimes feel like a frustrating fallow period for many people. At the end of the day, there is nothing magical or my...