Business

Saturday July 4, 2009

The value of tough times

COMMENT BY Dr VICTOR S L TAN


GREAT men know that difficult times spurred them to greater heights. The presence of a tough competitor pushed one sprinter to break record. A personal crisis doubled the resolve of an underdog boxer to create an upset victory for his loved ones. A poverty stricken kid, hungry for most of his childhood life, went to become a successful and wealthy entrepreneur.

We actually have a better chance to win during tough times compared to normal times.

Victor Hugo, a French poet and novelist, said it best: “Crises have always been necessary to progress. It was darkness which produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took a depression to teach us the real value of a job.”

As a change management consultant, I see great value in the global crisis confronting us today.

Change acceptance

It is hard to believe how difficult it is just to get people to change a simple habit during normal times. John, the general manager of a software distribution company, had been trying very hard to get people to be punctual at meetings. He had e-mailed stern memos, raised his voice in past meetings and even threatened to penalise staff for being late for meetings. Nothing seemed to work.

However, recently, due to the recession, the company was going through tough times and was considering reducing the number of working days.

John noticed that every meeting he called for since then was attended by all punctually!

During good times, people have great resistance to change. The upside of a crisis is that people’s acceptance of change suddenly increases many fold.

Most employees go about their work without a sense of urgency, be it serving customers, saving costs or winning a business.

In fact, most employees will avoid doing work which they can put off till tomorrow, especially if they can get away with it.

A crisis heightens the sense of urgency among employees, as all their actions and results are now under scrutiny. Suddenly the management starts to follow up very closely on what people said they will do.

The sense of urgency is increased because staff realise that management is serious about taking people to task if they do not perform.

They know that the management may not have a choice of firing those non-performers if the company is going down.

Note the blind spots

Success leads to complacency. When one becomes complacent, one begins to experience the irrational exuberance which eventually leads to a downfall. During the economic boom, a company’s inefficiencies are camouflaged by sales growth and profits.

Ironically, it was only when the 158-year-old Wall Street giant, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a stunning collapse that may leave thousands of employees without jobs, that woke up the Americans and the financial community throughout the world. Overnight, everyone become aware of the blind spot – regarding the risks of subprime mortgages and over-leveraging through creating paper assets.

It is widely believed that a person is most creative when left alone and given ample leeway. Many managers have confided in me that this approach does not work and I agree with them.

The reason is that most people do not fit the artist, painter or mad scientist mould. The common man needs a little nudge for creativity to be inspired.

My idea of creativity is akin to the concept, “I create with pleasure under pressure.” I believe in the adage: “Necessity is the mother of all invention.”

When we have the luxury of time and all the resources at our disposal, it seems very convenient to procrastinate or turn in old ideas. During crisis times, when one has little choice but to succeed or survive, it is amazing how creative juices start to flow.

The irony of human behaviour is that an individual is more inclined towards self-interest unless the group he or she belongs to is under attack by an outsider. Likewise, often there is much in-fighting within an organisation as they do not perceive a serious enough outside threat. During normal times, individuals often fight one another to defend their turf. However, during a crisis, when their market share starts to plummet due to some over-eager competitors dumping prices, people become more committed to working together and to ensure the company survives. They suddenly feel the sense of belonging and pride to defend their many years of efforts through thick and thin to build the company to what it is today.

Elicit great leadership

People are rarely born to be great leaders. Neither can we merely develop great leaders. People become great leaders because they are faced with and overcome extraordinary challenges. As such, this global financial meltdown, with all its adverse implications on the economy and businesses, certainly provides an environment to elicit great leadership.

As the great Italian poet, Horace said: “Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.”

■ The writer is the chief executive officer and principal consultant of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group and his book `The Secret Of Change’ has been accepted by Malaysia Book Of Records as the First Motivation Book With Rhymes.

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