The Paradox of Pragmatic Optimism
The Paradox of Pragmatic Optimism
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Let me start with a big THANK YOU to our front line healthcare teams for your courage, dedication and sacrifices. You are truly our healthcare heroes.
Easter Holiday, usually a time of joy, reflection and optimism, is arriving in the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) time of COVID 19.
On the recent webinar I did with Marshall Goldsmith and Bill Carrier, we discussed how critical it is for leaders to maintain the duality of dealing with the brutal facts of the current situation AND have a level of pragmatic optimism, known also as the Stockdale Paradox.
In his book Good To Great, Jim Collins analyzed great companies and found that EVERY good-to-great company faced significant adversity along its way to greatness. “In every case, the management team responded with powerful psychological duality”, Collins said. On one hand, they accepted the brutal facts of reality. On the other hand, they maintained an unwavering faith in the endgame, and a commitment to prevail as a great company despite the brutal facts.’ He called this duality the Stockdale Paradox.
Stockdale was brutally beaten, starved, and denied medical care, without knowing if he would survive or see his family again, until his release in 1973. He and his wife, Sybil, shared their story by writing alternating chapters in the book In Love and War.Collins, in preparing to meet Admiral Stockdale, read his book, describing it as bleak and depressing, even though he knew that Stockdale got out and was reunited with his family. When Collins asked Stockdale what it felt like living the story and not knowing how it ended, he replied:
“I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.
Collins went on to ask Stockdale about who didn’t make it out. Stockdale’s response was that of course, those who lived without any hope often died in prison. But surprisingly Stockdale also identified another group: the optimists.
He said the optimists would set themselves up for failure by saying, ‘We’ll be home by Christmas’ but Christmas would come and go and still they were imprisoned. And then it was Easter, and Thanksgiving and Christmas again. They ultimately ‘died of a broken heart’.
At the end of their conversation, Stockdale provided this gem to Collins, which he aptly named the Stockdale Paradox.
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The Stockdale Paradox is quite applicable to our situation today. We, as leaders, need the grit, determination, courage and resilience to stay in the game. We need the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of our current reality, without losing the faith that we will prevail at the end.
WHAT COULD YOU DO TO PRACTICE PRAGMATIC OPTIMISM?
1- Assess the Terrain and. Brutal Facts
- What are your values?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What are your clients’ needs now and in the future?
- What is your viability?
- What are your employees’ needs?
- What are your opportunities?
- What are the threats?
- What is your competition doing?
2- Map a Pragmatic and Operational Strategy
- How will you leverage and maximize your strengths?
- How do you get unstuck?
- How do you serve the clients’ needs with the current constraints?
- What are the brutal facts, priorities and actions so you can survive now?
- What questions do I not have answers to?
- Who do you need help from?
- What is your weekly/monthly action plan?
- What will you communicate to the team? Faith, Confidence, Optimism AND Brutal Facts?
For additional support, check out the CTI Terrain Based Strategy
Final Thoughts: Don’t lose faith, observe, orient, decide, act (a body in motion, stays in motion), and adjust. Do the right thing and do your best. That is all we can do now.
Thank you all for what you do every day. We are all in this together. We will prevail at the end. Stay safe and take care of yourself and your loved ones.
Your Partner,
Mo Kasti
References:
- Good to Great Book: Jim Collins Harper Business
- Tim Leman Blog on The Paradox of Pragmatic Optimism
- Paul Smith Blog on Pragmatic Optimism
- Bill Carrier – Session with Mo Kasti and Marshall Goldsmith April 6
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