Guess for Success

When times are good, we usually guess what it is we may be doing right. Often the truth is that we’re riding a wave of economic activity that rewards even the mediocre. In the first sign of a downturn, however, the mediocre fall off quickly and wonder what happened. General Motors serves as a prime example.

In setbacks and failure, by contrast, we’re better able to connect what we’ve done to the results of having done it in a certain way at a certain time with a certain set of customers or clients in a certain business climate. Yes, the lessons come at a cost. Ideally we pay just once, learn the lesson, get our card punched and go through graduation and forward to the next series of lessons. If, however, we miss the lesson, we’re bound, as history has proven, to encounter the lesson once again, usually at a higher cost than that of the earlier round.

So what’s the opportunity? Because some have a bit more time on their hands now, they can check the rear view mirror. Do this yourself. What was it about the current business climate that you didn’t anticipate? Most would say the severity or depth and the length of time of the current downswing. In many cases, if not most, there was the lack of an alternate plan, not unlike the disaster recovery plan many organizations create and update in anticipation of a natural or technological disaster. It’s sort of a worst case scenario you would put in place specifically for a sudden, steep drop in orders.

Some will learn the lessons contained in this sort of economy; others will not. Some will take advantage of the great opportunities contained in this economy; others will simply bewail their misfortune and whine away the minutes, hours, days, weeks and even months until some pundit somewhere pronounces the end of the drought.

In this time of tumult and upheaval, I remain convinced that all bets are off and both organizations and individuals are re-evaluating virtually everything in their personal and professional lives. Those on the sidelines will miss an incredibly high value series of chances. The leaders, on the other hand, will choose to adapt, to move into new areas and new ways of serving or to so refine their offerings and delivery of those offerings that they are among the first out of the gate and doing business while others are still hibernating their lives away.