Business Exposed48
If you’re not very strong, if you haven’t accumulated much body
fat or haven’t developed the ability to hibernate, I am afraid it
is going to be tough for you, too. “But what can I do to become
stronger? Get thicker skin? It’s getting a bit cold here!” you might
cry. Well, I am sorry (again), but winter in Alaska is not a great
time to try and become stronger. It is just too late for that. But I
do think there are a few survival techniques to be learned from
looking at rms’ downturn survival strategies, although they are
not for the faint-hearted.
First, we see quite a lot of rms display what I earlier referred to
as “threat-rigidity effects”. When under threat, facing a shortfall
in performance, rms are inclined to more narrowly and rmly
focus on the one thing they do well (e.g., their core product or
service), stop doing other things, and become more hierarchical
and top-down in terms of management control. Unfortunately,
this often makes things worse, or at least prevents you from
coming up with any solutions.
What rms are better off doing is opening up: exploring new
sources of potential revenue and experimenting with bottom-up
processes to generate ideas and innovations. Let me give you an
example. I am in touch with a company, in London, that provides
custom-made software for all sorts of logistics systems, which they
offer in combination with personnel training. Unfortunately, the
vast majority of their customers are automotive companies, like
General Motors and Ford . . . clearly not a great position to be in
right now. This recession has denitely been winter in Alaska for
them, and at rst they went through the usual cost-cutting and
rounds of lay-offs.
After a while, though, the CEO decided to try something a
bit different. He initiated some processes for all employees to
start generating ideas for potential new sources of revenue,
in which they enthusiastically participated (it was not like
they had anything better to do . . .). Most ideas were rubbish;
some ideas were so-so, but a few ideas were really good! One
of these ideas has now brought them a substantial new source
of revenue.