Optimistically Pessimistic
Different founders fall on different ends of the optimism vs pessimism spectrum. As in everything else entrepreneurial, it is important to find balance.
Early on, I could have been accused of being overly optimistic while my co-founders could have been accused of being overly pessimistic. We balanced each other then, and over time we grew to take on similar perspectives.
The perspective that emerged was succinctly described in a post this week by John Greathouse as “optimistically pessimistic.” He said:
Optimistically Pessimistic means being assured of the achievability of long-term goals, yet nervous about the attainability of near-term milestones
This schizophrenic mindset ensures that an entrepreneur maintains an unyielding belief in the manifestation of their vision, while never taking for granted the execution of their startup’s most basic tasks.
Related traits:
- Courage/willingness to take risks
- Positive attitude
- Vision/ability to see things as they might be and to anticipate change
- Self-confident, assured
Entrepreneurs really just need to know and believe the truth about their startups. Truth can be defined as a knowledge of things as the are, as they were, and as they are to come. Entrepreneurs need to know truth, as accurately as possible.
I’ve previously written about the need to culturally stay upbeat as well as the need to be sustained through tough times.
Where do you fall on the optimism vs pessimism spectrum? Do you like the concept of being optimistically pessimistic?