A tragic waste of hope

Someone asking an awkward question isn’t necessarily being negative or cynical.

Because hope doesn’t have to be a passive state - we don’t have to sit there and wait for the status quo to change, we can challenge it. Hope can be active.

That’s realistic optimism. Seeing space for improvement, naming it, striving for it. Recognising the challenges and gaps, and working to overcome them.

It is honest. Pragmatic. Authentic. It builds confidence in your ability to change things.

This is why ceremonies like retrospectives are innately optimistic practices
It might be inconvenient to be asked those questions in the moment (especially if your style is head in the sand, or “everything is awesome”).

But other people have been holding those questions too. And if people aren’t willing to voice them (no psychological safety), if you’re not willing to try to answer them (no apparent intention to change things), then any optimism is shallow and fragile.

And a tragic waste of precious hope.