{Corporate Dude}

Negative thoughts are a necessity to business. The right amount of negativity can actually keep a venture or enterprise from running itself into the ground. Yes, that sounds entirely illogical, but that mostly stems from a misconception. Most people think of negativity and imagine something else entirely. What people tend to imagine when they hear the term “negativity” is actually the pessimist. There is a difference between the two.

Negative people are the ones that, rather than focus their attention on the strengths of a plan, pick out weaknesses. These are the people can imagine the worst-case scenario and give a good idea of the circumstances that could lead to it. In contrast, a pessimist just assumes that the worst-case scenario will occur or is already occurring, with no intention of making any effort to avert or circumvent the problem. For these people, defeat has already arrived and not even delaying the inevitable is worth it. While both might seem like very bad people to have around a businessman, the latter is the only one that should not be present in the impromptu “advisory circle” of an entrepreneur.

Why? The answer is simple: negative mindsets are much better at picking out flaws than positive ones.

A negative mindset knows how to picture a realistic worst-case scenario, down to little details if they’re especially creative. This gives the businessman a point of view that a positive person can’t fully picture or comprehend. All too often, when people want to start a business, they only see the potential for growth and profitability, but don’t notice any problems. They don’t realize they might be missing things like a plan or goal, or they might not realize that their current resources isn’t enough capital to keep things going if the money doesn’t come in as quickly as they like.

There is no denying positivity is a potent force and potential partners and customers are known to respond to confidence and a positive presence. However, this must be counterbalanced by realistic expectations and a willingness to point out where things are at their worst – things that negative mindsets are better suited for. So while having someone thinking like that should be something that a typical businessman would want around during planning sessions, the overall mentality should still be on the positive side of the scale.

A lot of negativity can cripple a business. However, just a little bit of it can keep everything realistic and within acceptable bounds. Now, with a global recession, keeping things within an acceptable range of risk is more crucial than ever.