The professor said, “I want you to write about what you see there.” He collected the exams and started reading them to the students. All of them had defined the black dot, trying to explain it or its position in the center of the sheet.
After all had been read, the professor started to explain. I am not going to grade you on this; I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot. The same thing happens in our lives. We have a white piece of paper to observe and enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots. The story goes on about appreciating all that is right in our lives.
Many of us are preparing our 2016 plans, by starting with a SWOT analyses. We include our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. We often need a reminder to leverage our Strengths in our planning and not just focus on our Weaknesses.
This is an important lesson for those of us who tend to only look at the glass as being half empty. There is a lot to our businesses that are good; keep them and leverage them.
By Bob Dodge
