Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) earned the title of "Renaissance man" by his many intellectual pursuits and the advancement of science through consolidation of function and resource, increasing awareness of cognitive bias, and advocating for technological progress. As business leaders, we would do well to follow his example, for optimism is the mother of motivation and success. There are four fronts to staving off pessimism: (1) Develop a culture of progression; (2) Foster a community; (3) Automate to amplify employee efforts; and (4) celebrate and recognize success and milestones.
In Francis Bacon's The Advancement of Learning, the modern idea of technological progress was born. “Knowledge is power” and can spawn technical inventions and mechanical discoveries to advance civilizations and drive history. Other philosophers of his time were skeptics and convinced the world was heading to a dark chaotic end, while he preached progress and declared a brave new dawn of scientific advancement. The oil canvas above is a beautiful picture of enjoying life that is brought about from an industrial age! Electricity, civilization, infrastructure, safety, peace, city lights, paved walkways, aesthetic outdoor fixtures and furniture, textiles, shoes and hardware.
Because the news and social media posts are situational, it can feel as if we aren't making any progress. Political parties are at odds, climate change "is driving the world to extinction", skepticism is at a historical high, and many believe there isn't much for which to be optimistic. Though experts are boggled by the continual drop in production in the USA, the loss of optimism could be the only driver of this outcome. But this is not an accurate picture of what is really happening. Even global quality of life measures when viewed over time, create a different picture. In the table below, we see the significant progress made:
Global Quality of Life | 1800s | 2020s | Improvement |
Living in extreme poverty | 96% | 10% | 8.6X |
Illiterate | 88% | 14% | 5.3X |
Infant mortality rate | 43% | 3% | 13.3X |
Living in democracy | <1% | 53% | 53X |
Post secondary education | 1% | 31% | 31X |
Origin of data from article on Vox, Max Rozer, World Bank, UNESCO, Wittgenstein Center
Optimism is an important employee belief for business, because effort is tied to our ability to perceive our potential for success. The more we succeed, the more confident and happier we are, and the more effort we put into continuing successful step-ahead outcomes. How can we create such a winning culture?
Develop a culture of progress. Cultivate leadership with knowledge of market trends and with increasing customer and vendor awareness, with active professional memberships and personal mastery/learning. They are advanced thinkers, with a pluralistic approach the business. While incorporating best practices with tailored frameworks to improve processes, they retain, and even amplify, what is unique to the business, with transparency, and power-sharing.
Foster a community. A business with mutual benefit, professional development, active training, innovation, and idea sharing with diversity, collaboration, and inclusivity. The group is agile, resilient, forward-thinking, and future-ready. Safety, both mental and physical, permeates the business; one of the primary reasons for a community is safety. Meetings are productive, active, exciting, and challenging. There is plenty of non-task work (including Employee Resource Groups. ERG) to hone skills, gain recognition, assist others, and contribute. Responsibly participate in important social issues with consistent positioning.
Automate to amplify employee efforts. Automate workflows and data collection. Improve planning visibility through software enhancements. Replace repeat actions and ergonomic issues with cobots, robots and motorized movement. Improve measuring accuracy with advanced instruments. Embrace technological advancements over status quo, further embedding progression in the culture, propelling the businesses forward with, and in the contribution of, technology.
Celebrate and recognize success and milestones. Establish quick wins and long-term success. Acknowledge and reward excellence. Celebrate and relish noteworthy accomplishments on an individual, group, and company level.
Advance optimism within your business and you advance optimism for man’s existence and contributions to the earth. We should never ignore the benefit of mankind and business as it has formed modern civilization and incredible technological advancements with an increased awareness of our responsibilities for equity and sustainability. Successful business leaders can drive responsibility and create a vision and actions to produce daily positive outcomes, which lead to optimism and good feelings, which motivates employees for even bigger possibilities. Together, we create the ability and capacity to do good, and advance all of mankind, with protections and equity for the vulnerable.
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