Optimistic?

How are you feeling, today?  I had coffee with a grade school friend of mine.  We agreed.  We’re optimistic about America’s future – when, that is – the younger generations are in charge and fix what we Baby Boomers broke.  And if our young people aren’t up to the task: 

We hope that when the insects take over the world they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics. 

Bill Vaughan 

Not everyone is optimistic, true?  It’s OK.  That strikes a balance, and balance is good: 

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society.  The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute. 

George Bernard Shaw 

It’s a mindset.  Some of us are “wired” to look on the bright side; others, no so much.  Here’s a test from Beverly Kaye: 

What does this say?

     OPPORTUNITY ISNOWHERE

The optimists among you read, Opportunity is now here!

The pessimists see, Opportunity is nowhere.

Still others of you are pretty sure it says, 

     Opportunity I snow here (and we'd like to meet with you later...) 

Those snow hounds!  Optimism through and through, HaHa!

With today’s headlines, it can be challenging to remain optimistic.  We seem to be surrounded with negatives; negative social media, negative news, negative weather reports.  In the face of all this negativity, how do we remain optimistic?  Should we even try? 

Elizabeth Scott, PhD, wrote in this article for VeryWell.com, “How to Recognize and Respond to Pessimism”: 

Pessimists are often better prepared for tough times and may avoid risks that more optimistic thinkers might ignore. Research has shown that pessimists tend to foresee obstacles more readily since they expect things to go wrong, meaning that they are more likely to plan for difficulties. 

We’re, “…planning for difficulties” alright! 

Even so, I prefer to gravitate to the optimistic side.  Maybe it’s an outcome from my career: 

A good business manager hires optimists as salesmen and pessimists to run the credit department. 

Unknown Sage 

Whatever your personal perspective, sales, credit department, it’s OK.  We need aeroplanes and we need parachutes, too. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

Hope…

In the 1732 poem, An Essay on Man, it was written: 

Hope springs eternal. 

Alexander Pope 

Literally centuries before college football or the formation of the National Football League, Pope captured the sentiments that move to the forefront this exact time of year.  You see… it’s football season!  Yay! 

Exceeded only by we Die Hard, Cubs fans, NFL, college, high school, and fantasy football fans are the epitome of Pope’s description of hope.  Except at my Alma Mater.  Even though Knox College is undefeated in the head-to-head match against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (winning 12 to 5 in 1902), our football program in this century sucks.  

Jean Kerr tries to soften our despair: 

Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn’t permanent. 

Even so, there’s no hope for college football in Galesburg, IL this year.  But for our other teams we have great anticipation.  We sport our team’s logo-wear proudly and hope for a successful season.  More important than even football (if that’s possible), we fill each day with promise: 

Every day that we wake up is a good day.  Every breath that we take is filled with hope for a better day.  Every word that we speak is a chance to change what is bad into something good. 

Walter Mosley 

So, if our team falters this season, don’t despair.  Hope will spring again in 2027.  295 years after Alexander Pope’s eternal sentiments. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Laid off…

Lay-offs; fear of lay-offs; forecasts of lay-offs; lots of disturbance in the Force these days.  I wonder – do those being laid off see it coming?

It reminds me of coffee with my friend and mentor just after Oracle announced its acquisition of NetSuite, back in the day.  It wasn’t a surprise.  The return to our “Mother Ship” had been speculated for a few years.  NetSuite’s quarterly revenue growth was slowing.  In the subscription software galaxy, that’s a problem. 

My friend and mentor was wondering if I was worried.  Here’s how she expressed her concern: 

Gary, NetSuite is known in the industry as being somewhat vegetarian.  They eat red meat at Oracle. 

Teah Bennett 

I was OK, I said.  This would be my 2^nd go-round with Oracle.  I was there in 1989 selling Oracle Financials version 1.0.  Talk about a battle for the universe!  But back then, I was a sales rep with a quota.  Back then, it was easy to separate the meat eaters from the rest.  And at Oracle, the term “separation” was/is always taken literally.  I knew what I was getting back into with Oracle’s acquisition of NetSuite.  What I didn’t know was how long it would last. 

In the fall of 2016, I was 63 years old; supporting NetSuite resellers; in a “Sales Enablement” role, aka a “revenue influencer”, aka “overhead”.  Oracle’s value of its technology vs. all else including employees was, and still is, well known: 

Jay Nussbaum, who had joined Oracle from Xerox in early 1992, summed up what Oracle's product superiority meant to the sales force: 'A dog with a note in its mouth could sell it technically.’ 

Fast-forward to 2016.  Realizing the power of the Galactic Empire, I knew the race was on. 

I loved my job.  I was good at it.  I intended to work several more years before retiring.  Of course, there were a few hurdles.  NetSuite was the “gobblee” vs. the “gobbler”; I was a white male (still am); older than 60 (still am); working in a staff/overhead role without a personal quota; dedicated to resellers vs. Oracle/NetSuite’s direct sales force.  Ishkabibble! 

When the acquisition was announced, I believed someone far-far-away with a list of NetSuite employees and our compensation (probably sorted by age) was asking: 

• What does this guy do?

• Why do we need him? 

Spoiler alert!  Six years later, I gave 30-day notice and successfully retired on my 69^th birthday.  I beat Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers to my finish line.  How’d it happen?  

Maybe I got lost in the shuffle.  I did report to 6 different managers during that time.  Maybe Oracle needed NetSuite’s revenue to justify the $9 billion acquisition price.  In turn, NetSuite needed the revenue generated by their resellers.  I was the sole person dedicated to partner sales enablement.  Maybe Covid distracted everyone’s attention away from some grey-hair in Denver.  

Maybe, just maybe, they actually valued my contributions beyond their technology.  Next to my younger counterparts, I was the only Master Sales Enablement Advisor on the Oracle/NetSuite team: 

In youth we learn, in age we understand. 

Marcie VonEbner-Eschenbach 

I understood.  It was a race.  Truthfully, when I retired on my terms before being laid off, I was surprised.  I was also appreciative and somewhat amused.  Maybe the Force was with me! (Hopefully, it still is.) 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Scary!

I was chatting with my friend Tony recently.  More than just a friend, he has been a lifelong colleague; a client at one time; and a mentor continuing to this day.  I try to follow Tony’s lead in being an “informed citizen”.  That’s a job in itself.  Thankfully, we’re both retired from full-time employment LOL! 

He shared that in his pursuit of staying informed he invests some 3 hours per day reading (newspapers; The Wall Street Journal; online media sites; etc.) as well as watching TV news programs.  Problem is, he only skims the content because ultimately he gets fed up with the constant hyperbole; bickering; posturing; battling; and inundation of editorial opinions vs. factual, actual news.  He sees how scary these sources are becoming. 

Do today’s news sources scare you?  Are fear, anger, violence, and accusations the only things that catch our attention theses days?  Our information outlets sure seem to think so.  And when it comes to social media I saw this quote (in a USA Today online newspaper of all places): 

If it scares it shares

Other things “share” too, true?  I was skimming ESPN’s “Top Headlines” on my phone and one such headline read, “University of Green Bay basketball coach throws chair…”  OK.  Let’s go slow here. 

First of all, I’ve never heard of the University of Green Bay, have you?  Turns out they have an NCAA Division I basketball program (along with some 350 other institutions).  Second, it was a 2-point loss in an early season, non-conference game.  Is a chair-throwing incident really worthy of the national/international reach of this sports media outlet?  Or for us? 

Why are we surrounded by these outrageous headlines from anonymous sources; artificial intelligence; and powerful brands with agendas?  Who asked for this?  Truthfully, it scares me. I’m not alone: 

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. 

Alexander the Great 

Thankfully, we all have the common sense and the courage to know better.  For example, if you missed the U of GB chair throwing incident – good for you!  Now we don’t have to totally neglect basketball.  There are lots of life lessons that can be learned.  In A. H. Williams’ Big Bang of Basketball © (bet you missed that one, too) we find this: 

True courage is that noble quality of mind which makes us forget how afraid we are. 

Yes, that’s the good news – the important news!  We have a noble quality of mind and the courage to live in today’s age, don’t we?  And it’s courage that gets us through: 

Real courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.

James P. Owen 

So no, I won’t try to scare you.  You won’t read this little ditty in anyone’s “Top Headlines”.  I won’t even throw a chair to get attention.  I’m simply going to forget to be scared today; saddle up; and enjoy the day the best I can.  Care to join me?  

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

April optimism…

What a wonderful time of the year in Denver!  Snow Sunday night; 70’s today; never quite sure what Mother Nature has in mind.  What we do know is:

No Winter lasts forever, no Spring skips its turn.

Hal Borland

Spring is a wonderful time for optimism.  Our favorite, Unknown Sage puts it this way:

“Pessimist”:

A person who not only expects the worst, but makes the most of it when it happens.

“Optimist”:

The person who makes it possible for the pessimist to know how happy he or she isn’t.                                 

April reminds me of baseball.  People sometimes ask me if I’m a Colorado Rockies fan.  I’m not.  You see, I only have a place in my heart for one, bad franchise at a time.  You guessed it – I’m a die-hard Cubs fan!  Hey, we’re in 1^st place!

Being a Cubs fan says a lot about optimism.  The Cubs have won one World Series since 1908.  One - over a span of 117 years.  No wonder we are referred to as “die-hard”!

Even so, Winter to Spring, baseball, and optimism all remind me of my Chicago roots:

Life in Chicago

60° above: Floridians wear coats, gloves and wooly hats.  Chicago people sunbathe.

50° above: New Yorkers try to turn on the heat.  Chicago people plant gardens.

40° above: Italian cars won’t start.  Chicago people drive with their windows down.

32° above: Distilled water freezes.  Lake Michigan's water gets thicker.

20° above: Californians shiver uncontrollably.  Chicago people have their last cook-out before it gets cold.

15° above: New York landlords finally turn up the heat.  Chicago people throw on a sweatshirt.

Zero: Californians fly away to Mexico.  Chicago people lick the flagpole.

20° below: People in Miami cease to exist.  Chicago people get out their winter coats.

40° below: Hollywood disintegrates.  Chicago's Girl Scouts begin selling cookies door-to-door.

60° below: Polar bears begin to evacuate Antarctica.  Chicago’s Boy Scouts postpone "Winter Survival" classes until it gets cold enough.

80° below: Mt. St. Helen's freezes.  Chicago people rent some videos.

100° below: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.  Chicago people get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg. 

297° below: Microbial life survives on dairy products.      Illinois cows complain of farmers with cold hands.

460° below: ALL atomic motion stops.  Chicago people start saying, “Cold 'nuff for ya?”

500° below: Hell freezes over.  The Cubs win the World Series!

So come on Die Hard Cubs fans; don’t be pessimistic; don’t give up; don’t give in; don’t expect the worst.  This is our year!  At least that’s my story for April; and no April skips its turn in Chicago.

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.