My friend owns a company that supplies the steel industry with the scrap, minerals and chemicals needed to manufacture the steel in blast furnaces. His business came to a standstill last fall, when most steel plants were shutting down because nobody was buying. Given the economic news we read every day, this is hardly surprising.
But a few weeks ago, my friend told me his company was picking up new orders. Steel plants were starting to operate again after they’d worked through their excess inventories. Granted, they aren’t operating at anywhere near the output level of, say, a year ago. But they’re producing steel, enabling my friend’s business to come back to life. “We may not sell as much as we did before,” he says, “but we will be able to run a decent business on these new output levels.”
I’m not suggesting this anecdote proves economic recovery is near. Nonetheless, it does show that there’s more to the financial news than pain, failure and disaster. There are many, many more stories of companies that are successfully adjusting to the new economic reality, companies that aren’t just surviving but are doing reasonably well. Such stories inspire and encourage me. If others can do it, so can we. For me, it’s as simple as that. That’s why it’s crucial that we all hear about these successes.
That’s the problem. The story of my friend’s business will never appear in any newspaper. Daily papers typically only write about companies listed on the stock exchange. Well, the stock exchange is close to the source of the trouble, so there isn’t much going right there at the moment. Moreover, in most countries, some 75 percent of people work in small or medium-sized companies that aren’t on the stock exchange, companies like my friend’s business—and Ode magazine. For such firms, most of the business reporting by newspapers and broadcasters isn’t directly relevant. But it does have a huge impact. The onslaught of reports about historic losses and job eliminations overwhelms consumers and entrepreneurs; the hopeful bright spots are overlooked. Things seem worse than they are, which often makes things worse in reality.
That’s why we need good news more than ever, stories about businesses like my friend’s. We need to share these stories to build confidence and strengthen morale. This is, of course, the mission of Ode. We accentuate the positive. So a few weeks ago, we quietly launched a new initiative—our “And now for the good news…” newsletter, which presents a daily selection of inspiring, positive stories culled from around the world. Think of it as a media vitamin, your minimum required daily dose of optimism. I encourage you to sign up on our website, odemagazine.com/dailynewsletter. And not only that: Send us your favorite positive story and we’ll include it in our next edition. You can forward stories using the “Submit an article” button in each newsletter. And don’t forget to forward it to your friends!
Optimism is contagious. We need your help to spread it around.
Optimism is contagious
