If you're low on $$$, business is down, people are worried, and the future uncertain... What do you do? Economic crisis is relative. I remember a number of years ago, the exact day our budding business lost all its work, because a key client's stock plummeted when the Asian Market went into crisis and all consulting contracts were canceled. It was SCARY. We were all in a tizzy! Our reserves were scarce and payroll and survival were on our minds. We watched a few friends, also impacted by the crisis, charge big vacations to escape what seemed a doomed reality --- a kind "dying man's last feast." We decided instead to take what perhaps was "the road less traveled."
I would like to take credit for the idea that inspired our journey, but I actually learned the concept in "new employee orientation" when I went to work for IBM many years ago. Why I remembered it at that moment, I'm not sure, but putting its wisdom into action, changed the whole direction of our company. It also paid our salaries and took care of our families. More importantly, it put our company on the map. The inspiration came from a story about IBM's big break. It went like this:
During the Great Depression while most businesses were shutting down, Thomas Watson, founder of IBM, kept his workers busy producing machines even while demand was slack. Thanks largely to the resulting inventory of equipment, IBM was ready when opportunity knocked. They landed the "biggest accounting operation of all time" when the Social Security Act of 1935 was passed.
Are you ... and/or your organization ready for that next great opportunity?
For us, the decision was to skip the big vacation, roll up our sleeves, and reinvent everything about our business. We were unsure, but something inside told us that our investment would payoff. Just mobilizing into ACTION, helped us ignite a new kind of passion and fire about the future. It meant being willing to rethink our core business, recognize old stagnant ways, and re-evaluate what we could do. It also meant "growing some new brain cells" to upgrade our skills without money. We got technical and built our first website. The best part about it that by the time we we were putting the finishing touches on our reinvented business, we received a phone call from one of our best customers. They had a new and very different need and called to see if we could handle it. The changes we made put us in a position to be ready for this next great opportunity. The rest is history!
REINVENTING YOUR BUSINESS
Putting Your Differences to Work
Over the years, we've helped individuals and organizations renew their businesses in the worst of times. Many of the ideas came from going through our own meltdown. Here are a few ideas to consider as we all prepare ourselves to deal with the unfolding economic crisis being felt across the world:
Strengthen relationships. Phone, email, meet with other business partners and other alliances. Use the time to explore creative possibilities of new ventures, joint contributions, shared resources. Work toward opportunities where "mutualism is the final arbiter" --- everyone benefits; no one is harmed --- a new standard for all decision-making that could change the world.
Re-Package Yourselves. Take a deep look at your organization together while you have a chance. Imagine what ways you might be able to re-position how you present your products or services. People want to do business with organizations that remain fully alive --- always working an idea and innovation a head of the rest.
Upgrade skills. Use self-pace in-house materials or the wealth of information on the Internet to build everyone's skills for future work. Keep everyone focused on increasing the value they bring to the organization. Check on free webinars and podcasts for learning on-the-go. TIP: Visit our Global Dialogue Center, a virtual gathering place with a focus on professional, leadership and personal development open and free to everyone. www.globaldialoguecenter.com
Become masters of putting differences to work. Read my book and follow its road map to prepare yourself, your team, and your business for the next great opportunity. Our world has changed. The landscape for leadership is as close as each individual sitting at their desk and as far-reaching as time, distance, and technology will take us. It is a diverse marketplace, workplace, and community --- and it is at the intersection of our differences that the new innovation resides. Make sure you know how to tap into it as a business advantage. Upgrade your perspective and the possibilities you hold in your hands.
Renew your organization -- make things better. Re-organize your work area. Re-evaluate and streamline processes and procedures to make it easy for others to do business with you. Review promotional and other informational materials to get them ready for updates. Update mailing lists, web site, and organization charts. Clean out file cabinets. Clear out the clutter. If your workspace is stuffed up with the past, there is little room for the new to come in. This takes the wisdom of a "beginner's mind" to the physical plane. Ensure your environment is set up to welcome the next great opportunity.
Design a new product or service. Anticipate the future. Knowing the existing situation, imagine what will be needed and begin to make preparations to deliver it. Use your own initiative, creativity, and experience as a replacement for R&D dollars.
REMEMBER...
Great achievers of the future are those who can ride the waves of change...not those who sit on the beach waiting for the tide to change. Welcome the unexpected. Look for that uncharted path that bears your name. Prepare yourselves and your organization to respond to new opportunities---perhaps ones you can't imagine right now. Action ignities passion. Passion helps us envision our success. There is a magic in believing! Lead the way!
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
author, Putting Our Differences to Work
new book!
Putting Our Differences to Work
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership and High Performance
by Debbe Kennedy ▪ Berrett-Koehler ▪ June 2008 – Hardcover
ORDER a copy at AMAZON.COM
Putting Our Differences to Work was selected as as among
"the very top business books" for review in August, 2008.
Read it!
Also available in DIGITAL DOWNLOAD at Berrett-Koehler
Putting Our Differences to Work was selected as as among 
