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Takeaway #40 the Pragmatic Optimist via 2 Pac

When I talk about money all you see is the struggle

When I tell you I’m living large you tell me it’s trouble . . .

Now the whole shit’s changed, and we don’t even kick it

Got a big money scheme, and you ain’t even with it . . .

I ain’t, mad, at cha

2 Pac       I Ain’t Mad at Cha;  All Eyez on Me One (Feb. 1996)

Hell, as many albums as Tupac released in the new millennium (not to mention hologram-shows), you would swear that he his still laying down tracks as BPM prints this.  In any event, the recognition of the difficulty in being the decision maker or power broker remains self evident in this piece about the challenge to surrounding one’s with the best team members.  It is also a reminder of what it takes to be a quality team member for an organization.

You are trying to uplift the organization; you did not want to be surrounded by pessimists and whiners.  When the team or an individual team member sees success, we don’t need one that will only focus on the negative repercussions of success.  People often confuse pessimism for pragmatism.  You can be an optimist and still live in the real world.  Often those who are negative are not realists, they are just limited.

You need to have team members who are willing to put in work but are not afraid to have big dreams, hopes or expectations.  Without some of these people on a team, BPM believes that growth is finite.

BPM TAKEAWAY#40:

  • BE A PRAGMATIC OPTIMIST, DO NOT CONFUSE NEGATIVITY WITH PRACTICALITY

  • POSITITIVE TEAM = POSTITIVE RESULTS

About codemizell

The Beats Per Management collective (“The BPM”) is curator for C.O.D.E Mizell and supports the repurposing of hip hop content for professional success. BPM consists of former Hip Hop junkies now living in the corporate world. BPM members carried milk crates of 12” records when “bpm” used to mean beats-per-minute for mixing music, now BPM members focus on Excel spreadsheets, legal briefs, power points, whiteboard-scribbling and business plans. BPM cannot shake the instant recall of Hip Hop lyrics. The good news is that BPM realized that these lyrics had application to its daily management concerns. BPM does not claim to have captured the true artist intent in its lyrical analysis, BPM seeks only to celebrate the role that hype-lyrics can play in the daily grind to get business done in the corporate world. This is not a glorification of urban pop-culture or a debate on the poetic merits of rap, we leave that to the literary critics and socio-political commentators. If you disagree with BPM send us your spin on the lyrics. We have an open mind, and hope you do. The “BPM Takeaways” dispense reminders for your business day. Hopefully, the next time a referenced-cut is heard on the radio, it will trigger your “Takeaway” and not just flashbacks to the music video. A quote-a-day will make you a better executive. BPM hopes to keep all advice short and to the point – Executive Summary Style. Technically the lyrics are “raps” and the culture of the genre is “hip hop” but lets not get overly technical -- substance not form that controls here. The point is you are putting that untapped knowledge to use. And to think they said that Hip-Hop would get you nowhere…puhhleasse. -Roscoe Waxx for BPM

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