Getting to ‘Yes’

By Kate Webb

When times are tough, Vermonters have a history of coming together to find solutions that make life better not only for themselves and their families, but for the whole community. We have a tradition of taking responsibility for helping each other whether it be raising a barn, putting in hay, building a playground or helping a neighbor in need.

Today many pressures threaten the future of our communities, our country and our world.   We face threats to our economic security and the health of our planet.   We are wondering how we can afford quality health care and education.  It is easy to be negative these days.  It seems like so many things are going wrong.
Negativity has its place in helping us identify constraints to today’s challenges.  Over time though, sustained negativity simply makes us feel powerless, puts the focus on finding faults and takes us away from ingenuity and the hard work of getting things done.
As has always been the case, the most powerful strategy for reaching solutions is to tap into the cumulative strength of people committed to finding solutions and working together to bring them into form.  Today’s leaders in the private sector and in government must be ready to work together to solve complex problems; be skilled in collaborating with divergent points of view and be ready to move forward to solve our interconnected challenges.
Barns are not raised nor playgrounds built by getting stuck in what we can’t do or what we have not done.    Now more than ever, we need to move off “no,” and work toward “yes.”