We have been subjected to a diet of doom and gloom for nearly a year now as one after another major corporate has gone to the wall.  People have lost jobs, homes and lives.  I hear from colleagues that they are worried; and certainly the press constantly reinforces this sense of doom.

Personally, I feel very positive.  I think that we have begun to create an environment where scared cows can be slaughtered, and accepted thinking challenged.  There have been too many things accepted for far too long because “Things have always been done that way…”  and when we are hitting targets and making profits everyone supports the status quo.

If you are going to redecorate a room, you have to first stop using it, then clear it out, strip off all the old paper, paint etc and then make good.  Only then are you ready to consider redecoration.  It seems to get worse and worse and before you start the final phase, it is easy to feel a bit depressed and wonder why you ever started.

Now is a time to be brave, imaginative and creative.  You need to remember that you should build for the long term and avoid short cuts, especially when they compromise important values.  Look after your people, (by which I mean your staff, your customers and your suppliers,) avoid waste, and communicate, communicate …. communicate! 

I’d be very interested to gather together some of your examples of reasons to be cheerful.

“Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles.”    Helen Keller

“A man can believe a considerable deal of rubbish, and yet go about his daily work in a rational and cheerful manner”    George Norman Douglas