A few years ago, someone had the idea of starting a radio station that only broadcast good news. The station was out of business in a matter of weeks. We focus more on the bad than the good, plus the media thrives on disaster and a 24-hour news cycle seems to tempt many to manufacture it if not enough is available.
It seems that there is a streak of pessimism in most people that has several explanations: short sightedness, a preference for being pleasantly surprised than dismayed, and a tendence to think linearly despite the knowledge that that for most people things have never been better in human history and that the economy is in expansion mode 75% of the time. We have short memories.
In his most recent “No Mercy, No Malice” blog, Scott Galloway shares an article by wealth manager Josh Brown who opines that despite the media and human nature “the optimists are eventually proven right. Not every day, but always and eventually. Indisputably.”
Every decision maker should take time for this post and learn the virtue of “Optimism as a Default Setting.”
