“The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can’t do.” – Dennis Waitley
How much easier would it be to run a successful business if negativity and second-guessing were banned from the workplace?
I’ve read numerous articles and books about motivation and still struggle with some people’s reluctance to embrace and cultivate a work environment where open dialogue is welcome and fear of failure is non-existent. Unfortunately we tend to overcompensate for our own shortcomings by being critical of our peers and their ideas before we even take the time to completely understand or analyze their ideas.
Maybe the answer lies in this famous Donald Rumsfeld quote:
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
It’s a stretch but the last sentence might be the answer! “There are things we don’t know we don’t know” Could this be the reason we sometimes shoot down ideas without consideration?
All I know is that we can make a significant positive difference in our relationships with our vendors and customers if we commit to having an open mind and focus on continuous improvement.
Please accept my wishes for a Happy New Year and prosperous 2023!
Sincerely
John Norgard, President
