The Productive Pessimist

This piece was written by Morgana Ford-McAllister, our Neurodiversity and Gender Inclusion Lead, in response to the Cass Review , in particular the suggestion that children and young people expressing a gender identity distinct from that to be expected from their sex as assigned at birth are actually neurodivergent, most likely on the autism spectrum, and experiencing a neurodivergent 'lack of awareness of self/inability to understand gender.' Morgana is an autistic trans woman. Autistic Lack of Self vs. Gender Identity TW for childhood trauma, denial of agency, discussions of transphobia and so on. As a lived experience trainer with The Productive Pessimist, I read 35 pages of The Cass Review to get an actual feeling for what was being said and the tone being taken. From that point onwards the report seemed to move more into the models it would recommend NHS England initiate for clinic sites and a discussion of statistics, neither of which were particularly relevant to my role

Today is Trans Day of Visibility in the UK. At The Productive Pessimist Ltd, we offer coaching, consultancy, and training from lived experience. That includes lived experience of being on the 'less-likely-to-have-national-newspaper-columns-and-a-huge-fanbase' side of the 'transgender debate.' Both our Founder-Directors - Ash, who leads on business consultancy, and management coaching, and Morgana, who leads on neurodiversity inclusion, support, and training - are trans. Ash is a trans man (assigned female at birth, and raised as a girl) who first expressed a male identity aged 9, and began medical transition aged 21.  He has experienced physical violence and conversion therapy as a result of his gender identity. Morgana is a trans woman (assigned male at birth, and raised as a boy), who, in childhood, persistently experienced a 'wrongness and lack of connection' with gender, and began social transition (identifying and living as a woman) aged 22, and medical tra

  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

  We're roughly a week away from "full-on" festive season for many people.  For my household (Pagan - eclectic in general, with Norse leanings on my side, and Celtic on my wife's) we're just five days from Solstice, our winter celebration. For those who are mystically inclined, five is a dynamic number, promising positive change through effective communication - so, five days before one of my major points of celebration seems a good time to talk about the power of Productive Pessimism, and encourage you to consider making a booking for 2024 - or sooner, if you're ready for change right now! How Can Pessimism Be Productive?! I know what you're thinking - "Pessimism isn't productive! I don't want a bunch of Negative Neils whinging on around my ideas and projects!" Absolutely - nobody wants a Neg coming in and being a killjoy. That's not what Productive Pessimism is about - pessimism is "the expectation that bad things will happen&q

  One of my personal frustrations is when people or companies say they want a slice of an absolutely huge pie, that's showing itself very well in just about every class - eg, a business sector that's romping all over the board, and bringing in profits with barely any effort - but then seem to find any and every reason to take as long as possible actually getting round to even picking up a plate! I go bodyboarding when I get the time. One of the key facts in that world is that, by the time EVERYONE is able to see a wave breaking, if you're not already riding it, it's too late. The same is true in business. Whether it's an individual or a company being a hesitant wallflower in the face of the ride of a lifetime, the motivation seems to be the same: they'll waste time on business cases, business plans, and, if they're an organisation, corporate governance. The prevailing attitude, certainly in the UK, often seems to be that business cases and business plans hav