Compassionate Optimism
A commentary by Victor Perton, That Optimism Man
I was intrigued to read Mackenzie Richard Zuckerman’s review of the Tory Burch Spring 2027 fashion show, The Utility of Dreaming.
The review carried a lovely phrase: “Compassionate Optimism, Opulent Utility, & Grounded Eccentricity.”
Compassionate optimism.
It made me stop. What is compassionate optimism?
I had used the phrase compassionate optimism after my interview with Dr Bruno Cignacco, author of The Art of Compassionate Business. Bruno spoke about compassionate companies, human-centred leadership and his optimism about organisations that invest in people, communities and a better future.
Compassion is the human response to suffering that moves us towards care and action.
Optimism is a belief that good things will happen and that things will work out in the end.
Put the two together, and we get something potentially powerful.
Compassionate optimism means seeing suffering clearly, caring deeply, believing that better outcomes are possible, and choosing to act to help bring them about.
That seems to be close to what Zuckerman saw in Tory Burch’s collection. She writes that Burch’s optimism “has weight because it begins with an awareness of reality”, and concludes that perhaps the most compelling optimism available to fashion now is one grounded firmly enough in reality to understand why fantasy matters.
I like that. It suggests that dreaming need not be an escape from reality. Imagination can respond to reality.
Beauty, colour, creativity and fantasy can offer people something when circumstances are difficult. They can remind us that the present is not the only possible future.
The phrase “compassionate optimism” is largely a product of this century, and interestingly it has been used both positively and negatively.
In 2010, physician Ami Schattner published a letter in The Lancet titled “Compassionate optimism”. In that medical context, the phrase carried a caution: compassion and optimism must not cause a doctor to interpret evidence more favourably than the facts warrant.
In 2018, Angus Hervey used it very differently. He called for “a compassionate optimism” that acknowledges terrible events and does not turn away from pain. For him, it sat alongside courageous, intelligent and practical optimism.
That positive sense is closer to what interests me.
Compassionate optimism does not avert its eyes. It notices suffering. It cares. It believes improvement is possible. And it asks what we can do. That makes it relevant well beyond fashion.
Think of leadership in a crisis. A good leader does not pretend the situation is easier than it is. The leader tells the truth about the difficulty, recognises what people are experiencing, cares for them, and helps them see a way forward. That is compassionate optimism in action.
It is not necessarily dramatic action. Sometimes it begins with listening. Sometimes with presence. Sometimes with encouragement. Sometimes with making one practical decision that improves another person’s circumstances.
What matters is the combination of clear sight, care and possibility. Perhaps that is why Zuckerman’s phrase struck me so strongly.
There are many forms of optimism. I have collected hundreds of descriptions of them over the years: realistic optimism, resilient optimism, courageous optimism, infectious optimism, quiet optimism, practical optimism and many more.
I call them our optimism superpowers.
Try my Optimism Superpower exercise:
My optimism superpower is …
I see that optimism superpower most clearly when …
The next way I will use my optimism superpower is …
And perhaps add one more question:
Could compassionate optimism be one of your optimism superpowers?
If so, what would it ask you to see, care about and do today?