In some company I have known, there are six (06) core values that all of the employees of the company must inculcate within themselves. One out of those is "being an achiever" and that is subtitled with "no cynicism is allowed". Further, the topic expands its horizons towards "achieving 100% plus", "thriving to achieve what is deemed impossible" and so forth. So to put it simply, the company literally wants its employees to try their butts off to achieve things. Things, taken together with "no cynicism" here, literally indicates no definition of a boundary; hence it is fair to conclude that we should be able to achieve everything (note the adjectival use of "every").
Before moving forth, I shall emphasize the disclaimer as, that these penned down thoughts, by any mean indicates nothing against anyone's vision or policies. These are just one's opinions and perspective on the facts. After all, I presume that we live in a country that we have the freedom of expression is still preserved (even if not I don't give a rat's fart).
Before moving on further, my mind urged me to do a quick research on the meanings of these three words. When I googled the trio, what I found is as listed below. These are the outputs of the Google search as it is.
cynicism
ˈsɪnɪsɪz(ə)m/
noun
- 1.an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest; scepticism.
"public cynicism about politics"
synonyms: scepticism, doubt, distrust, mistrust, doubtfulness,
suspicion, disbelief, incredulity, unbelief, scoffing; More
- 2.a school of ancient Greek philosophers, the Cynics.
optimism
ˈɒptɪmɪz(ə)m/
noun
- 1.hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.
"the talks had been amicable and there were grounds for optimism"
synonyms: hopefulness, hope, confidence, buoyancy, cheer, good cheer, cheerfulness, sanguineness, positiveness, positive attitude
"such statements reflect the growing optimism among members of the profession" - 2.PHILOSOPHYthe doctrine, especially as set forth by Leibniz, that this world is the best of all possible worlds.
realism
ˈrɪəlɪz(ə)m/
noun
- 1.the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly.
"the summit was marked by a new mood of realism"
synonyms: pragmatism, practicality, matter-of-factness, common sense, level-headedness, clear-sightedness
"his optimism was tinged with realism" - 2.the quality or fact of representing a person or thing in a way that is accurate and true to life.
"British soaps will stay because of their gritty realism"
synonyms: authenticity, fidelity, verisimilitude, truthfulness, faithfulness,
naturalism;
informaltelling it like it is"both stories show life in a mining town with some degree of realism"
Now, if you take a look at the duo "Cynicism" and "Optimism", optimism functions as an antonym of cynicism in certain cases. Let's take a look at an example use case to simplify the matters here. Let us think of a tall mango tree. We all know that mango is a tasty fruit and we all want to eat mango. To eat we first need to pluck ripe mangoes and, this plucking mango is the use case that I am going to take into consideration.
Now, plucking mangoes could be done in a few different ways. Given we are talking about a tall tree, we might need to climb on to the tree to reach ripe mangoes. Mangoes grow close to (if not at) the edges of branches, that which are not strong enough to bear up the weight of an average human being.
At this point, someone who has climbed up to the mango tree has few choices to make. He could be too optimistic and decide that "I am not going to fall off breaking the branch, I am not that heavy, and the branch will hold on to me" and try to reach the edges by himself. We all know that sooner or later, his luck will expire and it would be the ending of Humpty Dumpty. The most edge of the tree is 100% point, that you might always not be able to reach to. Having that, if someone brags with things like "I can reach 120%" he/she should be having full-grown wings or some kind of a jetpack to keep him/her self from falling. This is pretty much being optimistic in work. You brag you can do this and that and all, and since you bragged, to keep your ego intact, you try hard to perform and ultimately you fail. You will make your managers much happy about you when you tell the story but when you actually perform you will end up disappointing them far from recovery.
Another one could be like "okay, I am not gonna go beyond this. I just don't wanna fall, so why risk it?" and decide not to leave the main stem and not to walk along a branch. We all know that, even along the branches, it is strong enough up to a certain distance towards the edge of the branch. So, if we just hold on to the main stem of the tree, what we can pluck is only what is within the reach of the hand, which would probably be much less. This is being cynical, as you are unduly inclined to the fact that if you let go of the main stem, you will fall off breaking the branch, which is not really correct. This is exactly what happens when people being cynical. People who are cynics are not willing to leave their comfort zones and take up challenges that have risks incorporated. This does not help in the growth of a company. Without leaving your comfort zone, you won't endeavour new horizons which means you are getting stagnant. Stagnation in the long term will be a killer because, even though you are stagnated, the world around you, the world that you are a part of, is evolving very rapidly and will never stagnate. You can't ever reach the next level while standing in your comfort zone. In that sense yes, cynicism is going to take you nowhere. Be a cynic while you are on the mango tree and you won't eat any mangoes.
So what about realism? In simple terms, it is nothing but being realistic. Going back to our little story of plucking mangoes, the person who decides to walk along the branch, while being careful enough to not to go beyond the point that which the momentum the weight of the body creates around the branch's joint will break the branch and pluck the mangoes within his reach. Here, you can be a little smart and try holding from flexible branches and bending them towards you. While you do all these monkey dances on the branch, you still are mindful about your balance on the branch. Also, you can be even smarter and try to bring in some kind of an extension with you like a pole or so with a hook at one end of it. That is being realistic. When you are given with a task, the first thing you should do is to determine whether you have the required skills, knowledge to get the thing done. Because if you don't, even if you are capable of acquiring the required skills and knowledge, it will take up some time. Problem with that is every task most of the times come with a deadline. While you do all of these, you have to make sure that you have a life outside of the office or the work you do. To be very honest, my work is my third priority. Before that, I have myself and my loved ones. Like Dr Abdul Kalam once said "Love your job, but don't love your company. Because you don't know when the company will stop loving you!" I have so many reasons to believe this because I have witnessed this happen many times.
However, I should once again emphasize the fact that this is by no means indicating that once should always play safe. No! Absolutely not. You have to take risks where you have to. Only thing is, you have to make sure that you are taking calculated risks. Maybe the thing that you are assigned to is well out of your league and completely alien to you. That does not mean that you shouldn't be taking it up. But if you want to take it up, you have to be very realistic. Be real, and be honest you yourself. One thing that makes us so optimistic is that looking at and taking up the things with our egotistical attitude. Some people refer to this as a Can-Do attitude, which is much deprived of the truth. Being over-confident and overestimating your ability is good in the short run, as your immediate supervisors are thrilled by that sort of attitudes. But, if you fall short of the expectations when you deliver your output, that will not look good on you.
On the other hand, the managers have to set their minds up to not to look down on people who are being realistic, as cynics. When you assign or delegate something to someone and the person is refusing some part of the work, you should have ears to listen to that person and a nose to detect if it is being realistic or being cynical. If you do not have one, you should train yourself more. Because most often, realistic people are being labelled as cynics. It is not only unfair for them but also will affect the organisation in the long run, as it will add up to the frustration of such capable people. It is true that it is difficult to find a fine line between cynicism and realism but unfortunately, the managers are compelled to find one. Those who are being realistic also should find a way of pitching their opinions on the matter, without sounding cynical. That is something to deal with communication skills. Sometimes the tone and the words that you choose might make you sound like a cynic, even if you have a valid case that the managers should take into account.
What do you think? Do any of these make sense to you? Do you think this is a valid case to consider? Feel free to let me know of your thoughts in a comment below. See you around...
