“Tigger” and “Eeyore” Are Both Needed In The C-Suite

I learned a few weeks ago that A.A. Milne’s beloved character, “Tigger,” entered into the public domain and no longer enjoys copyright protection. That announcement reminded of a comment a manager once wrote about me in an annual review: “Statton has an ability to handle many stressful, difficult, issues with enthusiasm, a smile, and a positive outlook, much like ‘Tigger’ in Winnie-the-Pooh.” I laughed when I first read that comment and admitted to myself that he was probably right. When I participate in a business meeting, I often look for “silver linings” in every challenging situation. When someone proposes a new idea, I immediately show excitement about its possibilities and start brainstorming ways to implement it or make it even better. “What if we also added this or  what if we did this too!” I’ll exclaim excitedly. I guess I do spread a lot of positive energy.

 But not everyone sees things the way I do nor shares my enthusiasm…and I’m glad that is the case.

I learned in my 20+ year career that for every “Tigger” in the C-suite, its beneficial also to have an “Eeyore” to counterbalance some of the overexcitement. “Eeyore,” everyone remembers, is another lovable character from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories and his outlook was always gloomy and pessimistic, the opposite of “Tigger’s.” Years ago, I had a colleague who played the perfect “Eeyore” to my “Tigger” in executive team meetings.  Nearly every time I showed excitement for a new business idea or strategy, my “Eeyore” colleague would say something like: “I’m not so sure that idea will work, Statton,” or “This strategy seems risky to me,” and then he would give a reason or two for why he wasn’t on board with the idea. His predictable pessimism or skepticism didn’t anger me. In fact, I welcomed it, because it made me think even more carefully about the problems and consider the solutions or strategies best needed.  After these executive meetings, we would often go into his office or mine where we would continue hashing out an idea’s pros and cons. Sometimes I was more the stubborn colleague and sometimes, he was, but many times we came up with a new approach or strategy that we both could support. That’s the best outcome for any collegial business exchange.

If you don’t have a “Tigger” and an “Eeyore” in every important decision-making meeting, I might suggest widening the group participants to make sure you get input from these important workplace “Pooh characters.” Yes, you can also try to find a “Piglet” (cautious), an “Owl” (knowledgeable), a “Rabbit” (organized), and of course a “Pooh” bear (focused on simplicity), but the characters most like to seize new opportunities, avoid risks to your business, and drive growth and success, are Tigger and Eeyore…as both are “wonderful things!”