One of my favorite business books that I quote often, Hope is Not a Strategy by Rick Page contains a great collection of noteworthy points from a variety of conventional wisdoms and from my perspective, presents them in an amusing and memorable fashion.
When others would talk to me about their strategies, at some point in their delivery, they might say “…and if this happens and I hope that it does, then we will meet our objectives.” I used to reply automatically “Well, hope is not a strategy. Unless you are a particular baseball team.”
Over time I have come to realize that maybe, that hope or the equivalent, can actually be part of a strategy. I am an eternal optimist and I am rarely concerned about how to get things done – always keeping in mind that it’s a pleasant problem of figuring out to handle a particular assignment. I also understand that it is quite unreasonable to be entirely optimistic – even if I am driven to be, others might not be. Yes, I have been labeled as a positivist. At the end of the day, understanding that certain strategies should contain some portion of hope as a driver to make things happen, to accomplish ones goals, does actually work.
For me – it is always trying to find ways to do things better and challenge the status quo of thinking and solving problems. Along the way being flexible in your thinking, learning from others, and their view points, including how they are influenced by hope will help to smooth out the rough spots. It is about trying to make things better. We can accomplish this together with different viewpoints.
No, this does not mean that I am dumping my philosophy entirely – but really welcoming hope into our collective thinking.
By the way, how was EBTIDA this month? One can only hope…
Elliot N. Dinkin
President/CEO
412.394.9997
elliotd@cowdenassociates.com
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What’s Dinkin Thinkin covers a variety of topics including: compensation, benefits, retirement, management, sales, and marketing.
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