We Fool Ourselves:

The Planning Fallacy

By Steve Wetterling

Don't you just love optimism? By that I mean, for example, when we see the possibility for success rather than failure. That's optimism. Or when we see a glass that's half full rather than half empty. That's optimism, too. To some extent, it's a matter of perspective. We can choose to see the world as a place stacked with opportunity or loaded with problems.

Optimism is also an important characteristic of leadership. In his book The One Thing You Need to Know, leadership expert Marcus Buckingham says, "The opposite of a leader is a pessimist."

But he's talking about realistic optimism, about seeing possibilities and pursuing them.

There is also such a thing as unrealistic optimism--and that's a dangerous thing to put into practice, especially when it comes to project planning.  What does unrealistic optimism look like? Read more.