Barbara Ehrenreich: Smile or Die

I recently came across this RSA talk by political activist Barbara Ehrenreich, in which she talks about the culture of forced optimism we seem to possess.

From a project management perspective, I think this is extraordinarily apropos. How many times have we heard the words, “I don’t want to hear about that” when communicating bad news? In the search for solutions, denial plagues our every step. When we’re up against stakeholders who’d much prefer to bury their collective heads in the sand, it’s important to be firm.

RSA Animate – Smile or Die.
Video courtesy of RSA on YouTube.

Give this video a watch…not only is the talk itself worth listening to, but the drawing is really entertaining!