by Sharon Jones
When we think of optimism, we can often think of naivety. Those who seem to have unbridled optimism no matter what may find themselves unprepared for when disaster strikes. This can sometimes cause them to swear off their positive outlook and instead focus on being more of a ‘realist,’ which is often code for pessimist. As a business leader, this can be shaky ground to stand on, because it stops you from taking risks, and as they say, fortune favors the brave.
What’s needed is a balance. Realistic planning that is also bound by optimism and a willingness to move towards the next step can help define entire industries. Just look how now and then, a young upstart such as Apple comes onto the tech scene and changes everything. But being optimistic in your business planning does not solely mean being on top of everything and revolutionizing the industry you’re part of. It means taking actionable steps towards improving your output by many worthwhile systems. You can develop that potential below:
Set Ideal Targets
It’s important to set ideal targets. If you are realistic all of the time, you can be sure that your staff will happily meet the minimum and never venture beyond that. This should not be your goal as a business enterprise. When investing in resources or labor, you should ideally be able to ramp up your production most years. Of course, sustainability demands that you cannot grow infinitely, but setting targets that are ideal can at least help you understand the best-case scenario, and then start planning from there. As they say, if you shoot for the stars, you’ll at least land on the clouds.
Improve Your Ethics
Becoming more optimistic in your business planning isn’t only based in how well you succeed or how much money you make. It’s in how your conduct as a business helps you feel better about your place in the industry, and how you help change the norms of your current environment for the better. For example, farmers using all-natural feed ingredients to fuel their poultry can allow for a healthier life for said birds, allowing the ethics of the farming business to increase at comparatively little cost. Additionally, it’s ethical changes such as this that can produce a better product at the end, such as healthier eggs or organic chicken.
Set The Standards
There’s no reason why you as a business cannot set the standards you wish to see in your industry. Perhaps you wish to make merit the driving principle of your hiring platform, so you have staff blank out the age, race and gender of whoever is being given said application to review. This can let the skills speak, allowing for perhaps the most honest hiring policy possible, eradicating unconscious bias on any side of the aisle.
With this in mind, you are sure to get into the correct mindset necessary for improving as a firm and keeping your best results in mind. We’re sure you’ll make the most of that effort.