Saturday, January 8, 2011

It's Reality That Matters

I was listening to the news stories about the latest economic and job numbers and then all the criticism about how it wasn't enough and everyone "expected" more jobs and better growth. Like the world follows what these people expect? It was a real WTF moment because I doubt the 103,000 people who are now working, and weren't just two months ago, really care about expectations except their own.

I hear this idea all the time about Wall Street, the Stock Market, corporate quarterly and annual financial reports, and production and services. It's all bullshit, because what matter is what happens, not what people expected to happen. And more so because everyone expects positive number, growth for the sake of growth, more revenue, higher profits and more investor share value and dividends.

Why? I'm not against expectations. We all have them in our life and work, it's the measure of what we want to do. But it's unrealistic for "experts" to decide what a company, a corporation, the government, and the larger economy should do when it's what it actually does that's important. We all know the jobs numbers weren't great but hey, ask those 103,000 people with jobs, they'll say it is better and maybe even great that they can now look at their expectations better.

We have to face the fact expectations don't change reality. We change reality. It's what we do with what we have where we're at that matters. Nothing else. Everyone else can say they want to see this or that goal met, but that's not what matter, nor is it based on realty, only their overly positive view of things.

And when the goals weren't met, decide those other folks responsible for the actual work failed. They didn't fail. They tried hard, worked hard and met the goals reality gave them. You can't do more when the reality isn't there. And that's the expectations everything needs to be evaluated on and not the wishful thinking and hopes of others.

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