[Hugely important author's note: the Musical Accompaniment portion of today's pogrom requires one of the two zillion versions of the RealAudio player, one of which is free, but whichever one that is probably doesn't work with your hardware and/or operating system. All that aside, I'd like to extend thanks and a big tip o' the hat to the whole cast and crew!]

I don't know what's come over me this Holiday Season. Reading back over the last several posts, you might think I was some kind of downhead. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Usually, I'm very upbeat. Setbacks never slow me down. No storm cloud ever lacks a silver lining. I am all about maintaining high morale. Oh yeah.

But these last few days, I don't know. So I turned to my trusty HighBeam search box and plugged in "optimism" to see if I could find some apparently much needed inspiration. As usual, I wasn't disappointed...

Spread optimism around the organization. This anonymous axiom is worth a listen: "A healthy attitude is contagious, but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier."

Now, that's the spirit! However, I was a little thrown by the following statement a couple of paragraphs later...

..."disciplined optimism" means having a substantial and continuing investment in payroll's mission and staff...

Oh! I get it. It's a review of a book called The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell in a publication called Payroll Manager's Report, and the writer is explaining: "How to model and teach optimism to your payroll staff." Whew! I thought I was losing it there for a second.

OK, so I admit it. This is me trying to be optimistic. Fighting upstream against the current all the way. I guess it just feels more natural, in my case, to see the glass as half full -- of Strontium 90. Sounds even to me like I need another hit...

Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania psychologist and author of Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, observes that with practice pessimists can become optimists and be better off for the change. Benefits include increased motivation, superior achievement, a more pleasant atmosphere, and better physical health. But, he adds that you should not be an optimist all the time: "When the risks are high, for example, pessimists may be more grounded in reality and less likely to get hurt." [emphasis mine]

Just two comments here. First off, based on my own balanced assessment over many years of reflection, Martin Seligman is a hopeless imbecile (my desktop version of the Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus explains that "imbecility is retardation more severe than a moron but not as severe as an idiot").

Second off: hold the phone. Doesn't this sound just like that thing I quoted last week that said depressives were often more realistic than those who saw themselves as basically invincible? So let me see if I've got this straight. If the risk is low -- like say someone might give me a dirty look if I say "Have a nice day" -- then I should be optimistic and not sweat the small stuff. (And it's all small stuff, as we've been reminded ad nauseam.) However, if the risk is high -- for instance, someone might seriously hurt me if I say that -- then I should think twice and maybe not say anything at all. Or run. Or take another case. I should think "Oh, tomorrow it will be a nice sunny day," because if it isn't, well, who really gives a damn? But if there might be a nuclear war and we all get incinerated and life as we know if might end because of some incredibly dumb thing some country's President might do, then I should think twice about going outside. Is that how this optimism thing works? God, that is so incredibly brain damaged! I mean, what? Anytime it really counts, it doesn't really count? Then what's the point? I don't get it. Then again, people have been telling me that for a long time, so just forget I said anything, OK? Play the musical accompaniment theme again and maybe everything will turn out all right.

Who can say?

above quotes taken from: Using optimism as a leadership tool
source: Payroll Manager's Report, 1 April 2004
via: HighBeam Research
Copyright © 2004 Institute of Management & Administration