Chapter 4: Employ Realistic Thinking
Employ Realistic Thinking
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.”
—MAX DEPREE, CHAIRMAN EMERITUS OF HERMAN MILLER, INC.
As anyone knows who’s been out of school for a few years, there’s usually a huge gap between a college education and the reality of the working world. Honestly, early in my career, I went out of my way to avoid too much realistic thinking because I thought it would interfere with my creative thinking. But as I’ve grown, I’ve come to realize that realistic thinking adds to my life.
REALITY CHECK
Reality is the difference between what we wish for and what is. It took some time for me to evolve into a realistic thinker. The process went in phases. First, I did not engage in realistic thinking at all. After a while, I realized that it was necessary, so I began to engage in it occasionally. (But I didn’t like it because I thought it was too negative. And any time I could delegate it, I did.) Eventually, I found that I had to engage in realistic thinking if I was going to solve problems and learn from my mistakes. And in time, I became willing to think realistically before I got in trouble and make it a continual part of my life. Today, I encourage my key leaders to think realistically. We make realistic thinking the foundation of our business because we derive certainty and security from it.
WHY YOU SHOULD RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF REALISTIC THINKING
If you’re a naturally optimistic person, as I am, you may not possess great desire to become a more realistic thinker. But cultivating the ability to be realistic in your thinking will not undermine your faith in people, nor will it lessen your ability to see and seize opportunities. Instead, it will add value to you in other ways:
1. Realistic Thinking Minimizes Downside Risk
Actions always have consequences; realistic thinking helps you to determine what those consequences could be. And that’s crucial, because only by recognizing and considering consequences can you plan for them. If you plan for the worst-case scenario, you can minimize the downside risk.
2. Realistic Thinking Gives You a Target and Game Plan
I’ve known businesspeople who were not realistic thinkers. Here’s the good news: they were very positive and had a high degree of hope for their business. Here’s the bad news: hope is not a strategy.
Realistic thinking leads to excellence in leadership and management because it requires people to face reality. They begin to define their target and develop a game plan to hit it. When people engage in realistic thinking, they also begin to simplify practices and procedures, which results in better efficiency.
Truthfully, in business only a few decisions are important. Realistic thinkers understand the difference between the important decisions and those that are merely necessary in the normal course of business. The decisions that matter relate directly to your purpose. James Allen was right when he wrote, “Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. ”
3. Realistic Thinking Is a Catalyst for Change
People who rely on hope for their success rarely make change a high priority. If you have only hope, you imply that achievement and success are out of your hands. It’s a matter of luck or chance. Why bother changing?
Realistic thinking can dispel that kind of wrong attitude. There’s nothing like staring reality in the face to make a person recognize the need for change. Change alone doesn’t bring growth but you cannot have growth without change.
4. Realistic Thinking Provides Security
Any time you have thought through the worst that can happen and you have developed contingency plans to meet it, you become more confident and secure. It’s reassuring to know that you are unlikely to be surprised. Disappointment is the difference between expectations and reality. Realistic thinking minimizes the difference between the two.
5. Realistic Thinking Gives You Credibility
Realistic thinking helps people to buy in to the leader and his or her vision. Leaders continually surprised by the unexpected soon lose credibility with their followers. On the other hand, leaders who think realistically and plan accordingly position their organizations to win. That gives their people confidence in them.
The best leaders ask realistic questions before casting vision. They ask themselves things like…
Is it possible?
Does this dream include everyone or just a few?
Have I identified and articulated the areas that will make this dream difficult to achieve?
6. Realistic Thinking Provides a Foundation to Build On
Thomas Edison observed, “The value of a good idea is in using it.” The bottom line on realistic thinking is that it helps you to make an idea usable by taking away the “wish” factor. Most ideas and efforts don’t accomplish their intended results because they rely too much on what we wish rather than what is.
You can’t build a house in midair; it needs a solid foundation. Ideas and plans are the same. They need something concrete on which to build. Realistic thinking provides that solid foundation.
7. Realistic Thinking Is a Friend to Those in Trouble
If creativity is what you would do if you were unafraid of the possibility of failure, then reality is dealing with failure if it does happen. Realistic thinking gives you something concrete to fall back on during times of trouble, which can be very reassuring. Certainty in the midst of uncertainty brings stability.
8. Realistic Thinking Brings the Dream to Fruition
British novelist John Galsworthy wrote, “Idealism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem.” If you don’t get close enough to a problem, you can’t tackle it. If you don’t take a realistic look at your dream—and what it will take to accomplish it—you will never achieve it.
Realistic thinking helps to pave the way for bringing any dream to fruition.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF REALISTIC THINKING
Because I’m naturally optimistic rather than realistic, I’ve had to take concrete steps to improve my thinking in this area. Here are five things I do to improve my realistic thinking:
1. Develop an Appreciation for Truth
I could not develop as a realistic thinker until I gained an appreciation for realistic thinking. And that means learning to look at and enjoy truth. President Harry S. Truman said, “I never give ’em hell. I just tell the truth and they think it is hell.” That’s the way many people react to truth. People tend to exaggerate their success and minimize their failures or deficiencies. They live according to Ruckert’s Law, believing there is nothing so small that it can’t be blown out of proportion.
Unfortunately, many people today could be described by a quote from Winston Churchill: “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened.” More recently, television journalist Ted Koppel observed, “Our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted. In its purest form, truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder. It is a howling reproach.” In other words, the truth will set you free—but first it will make you angry! If you want to become a realistic thinker, however, you need to get comfortable dealing with the truth and face up to it.
2. Do Your Homework
The process of realistic thinking begins with doing your homework. You must first get the facts. Former governor, congressman, and ambassador Chester Bowles said, “When you approach a problem, strip yourself of preconceived opinions and prejudice, assemble and learn the facts of the situation, make the decision which seems to you to be the most honest, and then stick to it.” It doesn’t matter how sound your thinking is if it’s based on faulty data or assumptions. You can’t think well in the absence of facts (or in the presence of poor information).
You can also find out what others have done in similar circumstances. Remember, your thinking doesn’t necessarily have to be original; it just has to be solid. Why not learn all that you can from good thinkers who have faced similar situations in the past? Some of my best thinking has been done by others!
3. Think Through the Pros and Cons
There’s nothing like taking the time to really examine the pros and cons of an issue to give you a strong dose of reality. It rarely comes down to simply choosing the course of action with the greatest number of pros, because all pros and cons do not carry equal weight. But that’s not the value of the exercise, anyway. Rather, it helps you to dig into the facts, examine an issue from many angles, and really count the cost of a possible course of action.
4. Picture the Worst-Case Scenario
The essence of realistic thinking is discovering, picturing, and examining the worst-case scenario. Ask yourself questions such as:
What if sales fall short of projections?
What if revenue hits rock bottom? (Not an optimist’s rock bottom, but real rock bottom!)
What if we don’t win the account?
What if the client doesn’t pay us?
What if we have to do the job short-handed?
What if our best player gets sick?
What if all the colleges reject my application?
What if the market goes belly up?
What if the volunteers quit?
What if nobody shows up?
You get the idea. The point is that you need to think about worst-case possibilities whether you are running a business, leading a department, pastoring a church, coaching a team, or planning your personal finances. Your goal isn’t to be negative or to expect the worst, just to be ready for it in case it happens. That way, you give yourself the best chance for a positive result—no matter what.
If you picture the worst case and examine it honestly, then you really have experienced a reality check. You’re ready for anything. As you do that, take the advice of Charles Hole, who advised, “Deliberate with caution, but act with decision; and yield with graciousness or oppose with firmness.”
5. Align Your Thinking with Your Resources
One of the keys to maximizing realistic thinking is aligning your resources with your objectives. Looking at pros and cons and examining worst-case scenarios will make you aware of any gaps between what you desire and what really is. Once you know what those gaps are, you can use your resources to fill them. After all, that’s what resources are for.
SUPER BOWL, SUPER DOME, SUPER SECURITY
Our country received lessons in realistic thinking following the tragedy of September 11, 2001. The destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City far surpassed any worst-case scenarios that anyone might have envisioned. In the wake of that event, we now find that we don’t have the luxury of avoiding or neglecting realistic thinking.
I was reminded of that on Sunday, February 3, 2002, when I attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. I had been to the big game twice before, to root for the home team—first San Diego and later Atlanta—and had seen both teams lose! But I had never been to a game like this. The occasion had been designated a National Security Special Event. That meant that the U.S. Secret Service would be overseeing it; military personnel would work with local law enforcement; and security would be of the highest caliber. The Secret Service brought in several hundred agents and secured the area. In preparation for the game, access to the Super Dome was highly restricted, with intensified screening. Officials blocked off roads, closed the nearby interstate, and designated the area a no-fly zone.
We arrived early at the dome—officials suggested fans arrive up to five hours ahead of game time—and we immediately saw evidence of the precautionary measures. Eight-foot fences surrounded the whole area, and concrete barriers prevented unauthorized vehicles from getting close to the building. We could see sharpshooters positioned at various locations, including on the roof of some adjacent buildings. When we reached a gate, police officers and security personnel patted us down and examined everyone’s belongings. After that they directed us to go through metal detectors. Only then did they allow us into the stadium.
“That’s all well and good,” you may be saying, “but what would have happened had there been a terrorist attack?” The Secret Service had that covered too, because they had prepared for the worst-case scenario. Evacuation plans had been put into place, and personnel at the Super Dome had been drilled to make sure everyone knew what to do in case of an emergency.
New Orleans mayor Marc Morial said the day before the Super Bowl, “We want to send a message to all visitors that New Orleans is going to be the safest place in America.” 7 We got the message. We didn’t feel the least bit worried. That’s what happens when leaders recognize the importance of realistic thinking.
Thinking Question
Am I building a solid mental foundation on facts so that I can think with certainty?
