It’s like that line from The Music Man: “We got trouble in River City.” We’re surrounded by bad news on every front. From clicks and “likes,” bad news is a cash cow. Research shows that negative posts get more engagement on social media (something about our “lizard brain” reacting). Whether we want to pay attention or not, bad news leaches into our consciousness and does a number on our attitude and mental health.
Our friend Bill Burke is a savvy media guy who has turned his experience into something new: The Optimism Institute. Here, he gathers some of the best minds in the business world (and elsewhere) to discuss the power of optimism. Burke notes that this isn’t some cheesy, happy-face thing; it’s a realistic practice that can help every aspect of your life.
We had a chance to dig a little deeper into his new project.
Give our readers a little bit of your backstory.
The bulk of my career has been in the media industry. I grew up around it and always loved it. After getting my MBA I headed to Turner Broadcasting where I wrote the business plan for and was the founding GM of Turner Classic Movies and was later named president of TBS when I was 29 years old. So, had my dream job before I was 30 but after a few more in the industry, including being CEO of The Weather Channel Companies, I decided to pursue a different path. I wound up being asked by Ted Turner to write his autobiography and later co-wrote/produced/directed a feature-length documentary. After a year in a leadership for social impact fellowship, I decided to launch The Optimism Institute.
Why – and when – did you launch The Optimism Institute? What’s the mission?
I got this idea during the summer of 2022, between semesters at the Harvard ALI [Advanced Leadership Initiative] program. I worked on it during that fall and began social media work earlier this year while recording my first podcasts. These were released March 1 (the first day of National Optimism Month – who knew?) and now come out weekly.
The mission is simply to inspire people with an optimistic and hopeful vision of the world and our future.
I decided to do this out of a concern that our society is being spun down into negativity, largely due to the influence of social media as well as traditional. I want to join the growing number of voices promoting more positivity and optimism. I also wanted to leverage my love for storytelling and the interview skills I developed working on Ted’s book and the documentary.
How do you define optimism? What’s the difference between it and a Pollyanna-ish “everything is fine” approach?
There are many definitions and types of optimism but, generally speaking, I believe it is a view that our lives and the world can and will continue to improve if we embrace this idea and actively work to make it a reality. Importantly, optimists don’t believe we can all just sit around and the world will get better – it takes action – and optimists are active. Conversely, it’s pessimists who believe that the world is a lost cause and as a result, become apathetic.
What particular role does “optimism” play in your life? Why have you built a business around it?
Optimism helps me get out of bed in the morning and to focus on staying active and positively supportive of people around me and my community. I believe in what Kevin Kelly says, that “Over the long term, the future is decided by optimists,” as well as in Colin Powell’s belief that, “perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” I’ve also been influenced by optimistic people like my parents and in my career, Ted Turner.
In your podcast, you’ve talked with a lot of leading business figures who stress the importance of optimism in their firms. How do you think it can move a business forward?
First of all, leaders have to be optimists. They need to acknowledge when times are tough but paint a hopeful, optimistic picture of the future and how the team will get there. Growing a business is all about seeing a future that’s better today, starting with filling a need and improving the lives of your customers, and simultaneously creating a better life and career for your employees.
It’s no secret that we’re bombarded with “doom and gloom” these days. Do you have any practical suggestions for adding more optimism into daily life, such as a favorite quote, site (besides your own!) that you turn to to get a boost?
First of all, social media (and traditional news outlets) often prey on our worst fears and anxiety. But, as Kevin Kelly says, “you don’t have to attend every argument you’re invited to,” and you can choose “not to be outraged today.” To some extent, we’re very complicit in this bombardment, as you describe it. We sign up for social media and choose who we “friend” or follow. A great boost in one’s outlook can come by simply doing a deep clean of their social media feed. Stop following people/entities that bring you down and seek out those that are more uplifting. In my own work here, I’ve found that just as social media algorithms can spin you down into doom, by seeking out more positivity, they can also spin you up into much more positivity. My feeds are a whole lot more pleasant now than they were six months ago!
And of course, we can put the phone down, turn off the TV and our alert notifications and get back to more sustaining and positive pursuits than doom scrolling and channel surfing!
One of my favorite, and simplest quotes, is from the Dalai Lama:
“Choose to be optimistic – it feels better.”
-The NwP Team
Photo: Pixabay
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