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If you have been defeated, acknowledging it is crucial. It's hard to make progress while denying the actual nature of the situation. Not saying that's necessa

If you have been defeated, acknowledging it is crucial. It's hard to make progress while denying the actual nature of the situation. Not saying that's necessarily true in either of these situations, just that it's not a waste of energy to spread depressing truths.

chrisweekly 6y ago
"it's not a waste of energy to spread depressing truths." It certainly is, if those "truths" are not absolutes. Find a way to redirect your -- and others' -- energies toward something positive and constructive. Spreading doom and gloom, full stop? Always a waste.
- NateEag 6y ago
  If you never move on to constructive action, that's a problem, for sure. However, telling a sad or difficult truth and stopping there is still a big improvement on pretending there was no issue in the first place.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - mulmen 6y ago
    You have presented a false choice. Saying negative things is just negative, full stop, as already stated. You can make this positive by suggesting a solution or asking someone qualified to suggest one and then helping them achieve it.
    - bigwavedave 6y ago
      > Saying negative things is just negative, full stop. I dunno, I'm not sure that's always an absolute. Example: your boss says the budget has been slashed and the department head will be downsizing the whole department by 50% in the coming months. This is very obviously a negative thing, but is your boss doing you a disservice by giving you a heads up? "Oh but he should give me guidance that I should work diligently but also prepare resumes and look into other options." Of course they should and it would be really nice if they also could find out for sure if your head is on the chopping block- but let me ask you this: even if your boss doesn't offer this very obvious advice or have any insight into the department head's persona non grata list, is knowing about this negative truth a net-negative for any employee this concerns? Of course not. Or even more relevant to HN: a very outgoing individual who loves the face-to-face environment of the office has just been told that the CEO has decided everyone will be 100% remote starting next week until 2022. Is being told this negative truth a net-negative for the social butterfly employee who now at least has a brief chance to wrap their head around the idea and mentally prepare for the change instead of being blindsided? Sometimes simply raising awareness that a negative thing is happening isn't a bad thing.

chrisweekly 6y ago

"it's not a waste of energy to spread depressing truths." It certainly is, if those "truths" are not absolutes. Find a way to redirect your -- and others' -- energies toward something positive and constructive. Spreading doom and gloom, full stop? Always a waste.

NateEag 6y ago
If you never move on to constructive action, that's a problem, for sure. However, telling a sad or difficult truth and stopping there is still a big improvement on pretending there was no issue in the first place.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- mulmen 6y ago
  You have presented a false choice. Saying negative things is just negative, full stop, as already stated. You can make this positive by suggesting a solution or asking someone qualified to suggest one and then helping them achieve it.
  - bigwavedave 6y ago
    > Saying negative things is just negative, full stop. I dunno, I'm not sure that's always an absolute. Example: your boss says the budget has been slashed and the department head will be downsizing the whole department by 50% in the coming months. This is very obviously a negative thing, but is your boss doing you a disservice by giving you a heads up? "Oh but he should give me guidance that I should work diligently but also prepare resumes and look into other options." Of course they should and it would be really nice if they also could find out for sure if your head is on the chopping block- but let me ask you this: even if your boss doesn't offer this very obvious advice or have any insight into the department head's persona non grata list, is knowing about this negative truth a net-negative for any employee this concerns? Of course not. Or even more relevant to HN: a very outgoing individual who loves the face-to-face environment of the office has just been told that the CEO has decided everyone will be 100% remote starting next week until 2022. Is being told this negative truth a net-negative for the social butterfly employee who now at least has a brief chance to wrap their head around the idea and mentally prepare for the change instead of being blindsided? Sometimes simply raising awareness that a negative thing is happening isn't a bad thing.