Out of Crisis

Definition: Crisis – An unstable or crucial time. A situation that has reached a critical phase.

Out of Crisis is the name of the book written by Dr. Deming in the 1980’s in which he urged business to “transform” their companies if they wished to compete in the ever increasing global economy.
Tom Peters, the legendary management consultant and author said “If you don’t have a crisis, create one!”

Rob Emanuel (the President’s Chief Of Staff) said, “Never waste a serious crisis. What I mean by that is, it’s an opportunity do things you could not do before.”

Regardless of my personal or political views regarding this U.S. administration and their actions (which I believe will cause irreversible damage to American business), as a professional who facilitates change in companies, I have to admire the “opportunity seizing” tactics they have aggressively taken during the past 7 months. They are not merely trying to “manage crisis” but to “transform” the way things have been done in the past.

Many companies today are doing “crisis management” such as reduction of staff, cutting salaries, cutting prices, cutting cost and protecting the balance sheet as much as possible. These actions are certainly required but they may be missing the opportunity to transform their organizations for greater competitiveness when recovery occurs. As you know, this transformation or change management requires careful consideration of three elements. Culture, People and Processes. There are several reasons why managers are not considering Change Management.

1. Too busy dealing with crisis management.

2. They do not think there is anything wrong therefore no need for improvement or change.

3. Pride. "I am the boss, I have all the answers and do not need anyone (inside or outside the organization) to give me another opinion or point of view. "

4. Cost. "I know we may need to consider this, but now’s not the time. We can not spend the money required."

5. "We do not need change, we just need more business!!!"

While watching Bloomberg news yesterday, I listened to JimYoung, CEO of Union Pacific, discuss the current economic crisis and their balanced approach between crisis “management “ and “change management." One key idea stated was that UP was going to stay focused on their value proposition i.e. Safety and Customer Service but at the same time everything is up for “transformation consideration." Not bad advise. What is your company doing? Share with me and others. You can respond to this blog or to my email. I look forward to learning from you...
Press on….