Whatever happened to optimism?

I was in a meeting last week when someone apologized to me after they realized they were being negative. They didn't mean to be obstructive but, they explained, when you've had so many rejections and knock backs you stop aiming high.

How true is that? Haven't we all been the person or met the person who believes that something can't be done before you have even tried?

One of my favorite phrases that I heard from a speaker at a conference is: How do you know you're cutting edge until you actually step over the edge?

Just recently I have been working with young managers, high potentials, rising stars, basically these are people who are good at their jobs but motivated to be better. They are full of great ideas, enthusiasm and energy but there is a familiar pattern developing.

When you are young and motivated you want to be encouraged. I don't suppose there are too many athletes in the Olympics with coaches that held them back and came up with excuses not to train or try for qualifying. But that seems to be what we do in business. New ideas appear to be treated as hard work, difficult, not to be confused with the day job. Why? New ideas are the lifeblood of all businesses.

The Olympics has shown us that surprising things can happen. The person who just made it through qualifications can be a medal winner. They work hard, focus and believe they can succeed.

The sporting analogies will no doubt be prolific for UK businesses this year but the one thing I think we can all take from it is the unwavering optimism of the participants.