A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste

"A crisis is a terrible thing to waste" is attributed to Stanford economist Paul Romer and it's as accurate a statement today as it was when he first uttered the words in 2004. While he was referring, at the time, to the "crisis" of rapidly declining U.S. education levels compared to other countries, his very prescient perspective is exactly what we need to embrace today to ensure we thrive tomorrow.

[On a side note, Mr. Roemer acknowledges that he purposefully coined the phrase by modifying another well-known quote, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." (Forest Long, 1971). Interestingly, both of these powerful viewpoints will factor into this week's CORE Bites.]

The impetus for this theme is the recognition that for the past 4-5 months (or so), I've been hearing many respected business leaders speak of the "Silver Lining" that can be found amidst the turbulence and disruption caused by COVID.

Silver Lining? As it relates to COVID? Seriously?

The truth of the matter is that while this current crisis is very close and very personal, we (the human race) have experienced many, many crises and, in the vast majority of cases, we've come out stronger and better on the other side. Some of these crises were economic; some were deadly diseases; some were wars; and ALL were thrust upon us forcing us to adapt, modify, transform, and, in some cases, let go of familiar ways of doing things.

We all know that the inspiration for Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation came when he saw an apple fall from a tree while sitting in his garden. But have you ever stopped to wonder why an acclaimed mathematician like Sir Isaac Newton would be "sitting in his garden"? It turns out that the Bubonic plague in England had forced Cambridge University to shut down and everyone was ordered to isolate at home.

Does this sound just a little bit familiar?

One of the more interesting aspects of human behavior has to do with creativity and innovation. Research shows (and practical experience supports) the fact that the human mind only unleashes creative processes when we face some sort of challenge, roadblock, or crisis. When things are going smooth (e.g., during times of prosperity), it's more difficult to engage people in change because prosperity is generally equated with stability and success—there's no need to rock the boat.

But a crisis forces a shift in mindset in an attempt to retain the aforementioned stability and success ... a crisis challenges "business as usual" thinking and produces an urgency for change, progress, and the identification of new opportunities. In essence, crisis reminds us (albeit, sometimes painfully) that the old way of doings things doesn't work anymore, and we now need to find new ways.

COVID could be remembered as months of painful and frustrating inconveniences; of not being able to leave home except for necessities like food and medicine; as something we merely endure until it's over. Or, we can make good use of it and end up with some enduring benefits. As we've heard many times before, conflict builds character ... but crisis defines it. Let's define our future starting today!

High Value Activity (HVA) Action Steps

This week, start looking for ways to extract the "Silver Lining" from all that you've experienced during this past year (yes, it's now officially one year). The HVAs listed below should give you a good framework to operate from in your analyses:

• Crisis Challenges Status Quote Thinking and Produces an Urgency for Change: I'm frequently heard saying, "When you steal the struggle ... you deny the growth." And nowhere could this be truer than the current situation we find ourselves in. Yes, we've struggled (significantly) to quickly and efficiently realign our methods of doing work. But now it's time to acknowledge and document where we've experienced "growth" from all of these struggles. A crisis forces the elimination of repetitive, inefficient, wasteful, problematic, and/or unprofitable activities. An excellent method to evaluate where some of these gains may be found is a simple Compare/Contrast spreadsheet. Use metrics from the past to compare/contrast with today's metrics while controlling for confounding issues that may skew the numbers in one direction or another.
• Crisis Challenges Employees to Move Out of Their Comfort Zones: Another phrase I use a lot is, "Comfort never produced greatness." As mentioned earlier in this article, when things are going well a certain amount of complacency can set in. But challenge DRIVES innovation and opportunity giving employees the impetus to explore options that previously were viewed as impractical, unrealistic or too difficult prior to the crisis. This is an excellent opportunity to visit your Slow Leaks.
• Crisis Is a Driver for Making Hard Decisions (but you don't have to go it alone!): When crisis creates uncertainty and disruption, leaders often feel an urge to limit authority to those at the top while huddling behind closed doors (virtually). A more effective Crisis Management model is to reject the top-down approach and, instead, involve a cross-section of stakeholders to encourage different views and healthy debate. This approach can lead to smarter decisions without sacrificing speed. At the (virtual) table you should include the decision-makers, the SMEs, and any other relevant stakeholders to ensure all voices are heard.
• Crisis Means We Need to Restore Confidence: Crisis can bring uncertainty regarding job security. While many techniques have been employed to reduce this anxiety and convey how much employees are valued, there is an underutilized, yet powerful, technique that's proven to significantly reduce feelings of job insecurity. Training. Training leads to greater employee engagement and satisfaction because they're immediately able to apply new skills to specific tasks. Training is also an opportunity for employees to engage with their colleagues—this is particularly important for those working remotely. And, by implication, there's an increase in feelings of job security because the employee knows you wouldn't be considering an investment of this type if you were also considering a reduction in force.