What do you think?

We are in a mess, aren't we?

"The crisis is a direct result of poor, short-term, conformist, in-denial thinking, rife with untrue, limiting assumptions. For organisations and individuals to emerge from the crisis and into an era that produces unprecedented sustainable well-being, they will have to generate the best, freshest independent thinking from everyone. " Nancy Kline, October 2008.

Short-term - I am only here for a few years so got to make a big impact and lots of money before my next job.
Conformist - everyone else it doing it, they must have thought it through, surely, so I don't need to bother.
In-denial - la la la la la. Fingers in ears.
Untrue, limiting assumptions - Got to do what everything else it doing. They've thought it all out. I can't buck the system. Making money is everything.

I am sure you can think of lots more.

But why is it that the thought of fresh, independent thinking can be so terrifying? Is it because we are scared to be thinking things that no one else is - how helpful would some new ideas be right now? Is it because we are scared of what we might have to do once we have had these new thoughts - got to be better than what we are doing now, hasn't it?

How can we make new thinking the exciting, refreshing, life and world changing experience it can be? What do we need to do to create an environment where we can all do our best thinking?

Most importantly, what do you need to do to free your own thinking?

The average recession lasts 11 months

It is not often that I start with a fact but that one was a real eye opener.

It is so easy in times like this to cut staff and squeeze suppliers dry. But by remaining visionary, innovative and brave and by going against the conventional approaches your competitors are taking, you stand a chance of not only weathering the storm but coming out of it stronger and more capable.

The short term boost that a reduced wage bill can create hides longer term costs. Most directly the cost of rehiring and retraining employees is often greater than the saving of cutting numbers initially. What is difficult to calculate is the cost of how the job cuts are handled on those who lose their job and those who remain.

It has also been shown that even where redundancies are necessary, how they are handled makes all the difference. In organisations where leaders make the announcement and then head for the safety of their offices for the duration, there are more claims of unfair dismissal than when they make themselves available to answer questions about job losses and the reasons behind them. In addition, the staff left behind remain more positive and productive where redundancies have been managed effectively.

And a downturn can be a great time to focus on staff development - within reason of course. At times like this, re-engaging staff behind the bigger vision for the company, helping them to manage their stress levels and, at the same time, learn skills which will be vital to the continued growth of the business takes courage. Most competitors will be hunkering down, cutting spending on people development.

If you really do need to cut jobs, what do you need to do to protect the relationships with all staff for the long term?

What are your brutal facts?

OK, I can avoid it no longer. I will reference the CC but I can't bring myself to type it.

This is a moment to remind myself of one of the ideas from Good to Great (Jim Collins) that has always stuck with me. The need to confront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith).

Few people within an organisation will not have any questions about how it might be affected by global events. Sometimes it feels easier and more reassuring to respond to these questions with reasons why it won't affect this organisation directly, what makes this company different etc. No doubt generating bemused expressions and mistrust from staff who are clearly capably of reading the paper or watching the news.

Facing the reality of the implications of the situation, no matter how frightening for the leadership and the rest of the staff, is more likely to protect the business.

There is nothing as confidence inspiring as a plan that starts with the facts.