According to Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times, pessimism is good for business.  The thinking behind this statement seems to be that pessimists are better prepared to deal with the world as it is rather than how we would like it to be.  I find her suggestion interesting that an organisation should have a mixture of the two types if it is to function with maximum effectiveness.

This notion is not unique to her.  Apparently uber guru Tom Peters recently tweeted his appreciation for a book by Julien K Norem called The Positive Power of Negative Thinking: Using Defensive Pessimism to Harness Anxiety and Perform at Your Peak.  This book is a recent edition to a selection of authors who either warn against the dangers of the positive psychology movement (Barbara Ehrenreich) or positively (!) extol the virtues of pessimism (Roger Scruton).

I find myself conflicted.  On the one hand, I like the idea of using what you are, playing to your own strengths.  So, if you’re an introvert, discover or invent ways to turn this to your advantage.  Likewise if you are a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) in the workplace.  On the other hand, I believe that key business skills such as motivation and resilience are largely due to your ability to initiate ‘growth mindsets’ or positive ‘explanatory styles’ in order to interpret goals and setbacks to yourself.

I suspect that an answer lies in the notion that optimism and pessimism, introversion and extroversion, sensitivity and thick-facedness, are different strategies or tools the skillful businessperson employs as the context requires.  None binds; none defines.

Do you agree?

Allen at BookCamp

“How do you keep up to date with things?”, someone asked on Facebook this week. Here is how I keep up to date with business events at least…

SYNC NI

Technology, Science and Innovation events in Northern Ireland.  Email them and they will supply a login so you can add your own.

NI Business Info

This is the main page, with all events displayed (174 at time of writing).  However, you can also filter by keyword, location, date, topic and type.  Subscribe to event alert emails here.

Addictive Creatives

News and events for creative addicts in NI.

BookCamp

Book club for businesspeople, enterpreneurs and professionals, run by Allen Baird (seen in photo above).

Belfast Entrepreneurs Network

Register to receive event alert emails.

WhatsOnNI

Quickly becoming Northern Ireland’s go-to site, for finding out anything that’s happening in NI.  I think it’s so successful, as content is user-generated!  This link leads to the Business/Coaching/Training section.  Set up an account and add your own events, free, here.

Business Events Hub on Facebook

Intended for sharing, you can write on the Wall and it’s all moderated by Tracy Gilpin.

Eventbrite

This is the Northern Ireland eventspage – see categories for business and conferences.

Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce

Some events are free, some are free for members, and some are charged.  If you email them details, they will add your event for free.

ScribeTribe

Business and professional writers’ network, run by Dawn Baird.

Women on the Move

Networking and business events, normally based in Ballymena.  They’re also on Facebook.

Women in Business

Events for women in business.

QUB Short Courses Programmes

Take a look a the PDF, which contains a list of CPD workshops run by QUB’s School of Education.  Allen and I both deliver several workshops a year for CPD.

QUB

Open lectures, performances and courses.

Social Media Association for Business

Business association for all those keen to use social media to promote and manage their business.

Digital Circle

For technology-focused events.  You can add your own.

Refresh Belfast

“Refresh is a monthly event for designers, developers, geeks & nerds to get together to discuss design, debate emerging technologies, share ideas and meet new people from the local creative industries. Every third Monday of the month we organise a couple of presentations from local industry experts to be enjoyed over a few beers in the The Black Box.”

Northern Ireland Microsoft Technologies Group

Loads and loads of events for geeks.

Open Coffee Mid-Ulster

Monthly networking event in the Magherafelt district.  There are other locally-organised groups who meet in Lisburn, Newry, Ballyclare Derry and Coleraine.

Belfast City Council

Belfast events and programmes.

B4B

Events happening mainly around Belfast.  As a member, you have an account and can add your own events, lsited under Other Events.

MLN

Includes Champion events and Management Month.

Additional Ideas

• Twitter and Facebook users share freely.  Pay attention to your News Feed.
• Set up a Google account and add RSS feeds to Google Reader.
• Add Events pages to your IE Favourites or Bookmarks.
• Sign up for email events alerts.

I’d be delighted to hear about any others.  Please add your suggestions in a comment.

Following a request from a group of business people in Omagh, we are holding a seminar in the South West College on 14 June.  This seminar has been run several times before, mainly in the Belfast area.  Comments are always positive.  Here are some recent responses:

“Had all relevant aspects explained and plenty of opportunity to ask questions.”  Kerry Smyth, Knowledge Transfer Centre, QUB

“I went to a Social Media Workshop run by Dawn from Sensei last week in Antrim. Dawn managed to condense a huge subject into a very simple, easy to follow and interactive presentation. There were people there who didn’t have a clue about social networking. There was a lot of excitement in the room and there were many questions about the possibilities. Dawn was very calm and professional and managed to keep people interested throughout. I would have no hesitation in recommending Dawn to run courses for my company or anyone else’s for that matter. Very pleased. (First published on Lookaly).”  Dean Langasco, I Love Mondays

Who Should Attend?

This session is for anyone who wants to gain a quick-fire overview of what social media is and how it can be incorporated into a business marketing and networking strategy.   It is most suitable for those who are new to online marketing, or those in the very early stages.

Results

This seminar will help you to:

• Understand the benefits and meaning behind the jargon and hype
• Know what to do to establish a professional online profile
• Access relevant industry information and local business assistance
• Keep in touch with your customers to encourage repeat sales
• Network more effectively with other SMEs

Thanks to South West College, Omagh, who are hosting this event.

A similar event will be held in Limavady.

Recently I attended an FSB How to Get Paid on Time seminar and it got me thinking.  What do we do to ensure we get paid on time?  The following ideas provide a great place to start:

• Do you have written Terms and Conditions?  Are they explained in detail to each new customer, or posted out with every invoice and bill?  Better still, are they listed on your website?  Why not?
• Be upfront.  State Terms and Conditions at the start of any large negotiation or project.  Make it clear and obvious.  If a new client can’t agree to them, it may be time to part the ways.  Or, it may be time to negotiate.
• Go with your gut.   If someone seems like too much trouble, they probably are.  This goes doubly for freelancers out there.  You really can’t afford to get stuck working with a client for a few months who you knew would probably be “problematic”.

• Do less work for those who consistently pay late.  You may think you have to suffer this at the beginning of running your business.  However, you have to weigh up whether late income is worth more than the stress and hassle of getting it in.  And, think whether that time and effort may not be better spent on other customers.  Eventually, you will be able to drop these customers altogether.
• Threaten promise not to turn up, if you’re delivering goods or services, following an unpaid invoice from a previous order.  Insist on payment on delivery, otherwise, tell your delivery drivers to come right back to the warehouse.
• Are you delaying getting paid on time?  When do you post invoices?  For example, if your Terms are 30 days from the date of the invoice, why does the invoice not get posted (first class) on the day of delivery?  Delaying this until you’re next organising the accounts wastes valuable cash-flow time.
• Avoid becoming the hidden baddie in your own story of woe!  Prepare invoices and bills in advance, and schedule credit control calls or visits – you will have no excuse to forget, if they are written in your schedule.  Make this a step in your “dealing with a new purchase” procedures.

I hope these tips will help out, especially for those just starting out.  It’s been something I’ve been asked about several times recently and thought I’d put it all down in a quick post.

Image credit: Neubie.