Editor’s note: This is the sequel to a previous Biz Blog written by Gary Billington.
Economically speaking, things are beginning to show signs of life. As I attend events around town and engage in conversation with folks it seems the mood has decidedly improved.
The stock market appears to be in the throes of a sustained recovery, the housing market is slowly rebounding ,and financial markets are opening up again.
We obviously have a ways to go, but the direction is encouraging.
I was quietly reflecting the other morning (Sunday morning …. and … I ask, how is it the dog instinctively knows its Sunday?) about what lessons this recession has taught us all.
No doubt, it has affected all of us in many ways … some more than others. My kids have finally realized … times aren’t always good. Pretty obvious to us older duffers. I never really stopped to think about it, but truly, they have never really experienced a recession like this … be it a "great" one or not.
Back to my point…
Companies have had to adapt, industries have been forever altered, life’s have been changed, both good and bad. The lessons have been painful for many, and we must always remember those who are still hurting in both our hearts and if possible our wallets.
But I keep coming back to the somewhat ideal notion that thru all of this the American spirit survives and even thrives. We as a people are really great at adapting to change, but many times only when it’s forced upon us.
Americans are some of the most resilient people on the planet. In tough times, we figure out how to do more with less and most often end up more productive than ever.
The economic swings of our free enterprise system truly teach those lessons well. In large part, isn’t that what truly makes our system work while constantly moving us forward to the next level?
During World War II, this country took on unprecedented levels of debt to fight for our system of democracy – I am told in the order of 2.5x our entire GDP each year for almost five years . In relevant terms today, that would be hundreds of trillions of dollars of debt (Maybe that puts our present debt in perspective?) Within a relatively short time, we had paid that sum back. Truly remarkable. It’s not the number – it’s your ability to pay it back?
When faced with a Cold War threat in space, we put men on the moon in less than 10 years with virtually the computer technology of a tiny hand held calculator. (I just finished reading "Rocketmen" by Craig Nelson .It is a fascinating account of this inspiring feat.)
We survived, and I would suggest thrived after both of these events. Western civilization did not come to an end as many had predicted might happen!
Fear (false evidence appearing real) was truly a motivator. In both cases, believing we could even win/do it was even more powerful, in my opinion.
To repeat my initial blog point, I’m not trying to minimize the challenges we face today, by any means.
We have a lot of work to do. We will do it and we will survive and thrive, because it’s programmed into our DNA. Ameri-CAN.
My point is we need to believe in our ability to solve these issues.
If you think you can, you will. If you think you can’t, you won’t. Mr. Ford again (I’m also reminded of this every once and awhile with the sports underdog analogy. In my case, this translates to hockey ala the ’09-10 Phoenix Coyotes.)
Back to my point again …
Pretty simple, positive attitude stuff, but in today’s negative-reinforced media world … oh so easy to forget.
2010 may be a pleasant surprise or it may not.
The point is, a lot of success is locked up in our heads … and our attitudes. Truly believing that things will be better and truly expecting better results in my opinion creates important psychological stepping stones resulting in better outcomes … regardless if they are in sports, business and most importantly life!
Gary Billington is vice president of client relations at Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP in Milwaukee.
