When leaders face tough situations, they often decide to dig
in and shelter. The recession and most
recently sequestration have caused more than a few leaders to take out their
shovels, dig a bunker, and hunker down.
They cut budgets, pull back from investments, and focus on protecting
their existing business. But is this a
strategy for long-term success? When you take your team underground, they may at first be relieved to be out of danger. However, over time, relief turns to frustration, boredom and atrophy. Companies that have dug in, cut costs, and sought protection lose. Morale suffers and competitive muscles get weak. When you finally pull your team out from the hole, the landscape is completely different and you have a team ill-prepared to journey on.
Let me paint this picture...
There’s
an ominous storm approaching. It has the
potential to wreak devastating harm on you and your team. The path of the storm is uncertain. The threat could move away, be less damaging,
or could be disastrous. There’s simply
no way of knowing. The storm stands
between you and your destination.
Instead of taking on the approaching menace, you dig a hole for
protection. Safely in your bunker, you realize
you can’t see as far – you have no way of knowing what is going on outside. Because you’ve expended tremendous energy
digging, you no longer have the strength to repel the potential onslaught if it
arrives. Instead, you rely entirely on
the shelter you’ve constructed and hope it doesn’t fail. Finally, you’re in a hole. When you decide to leave, you have to
crawl up and out. When you get your head
above ground, you may no longer recognize your surroundings. Depending on the length of time you spent
underground and the effects of the storm, you may no longer recognize the way
ahead. In fact, you may wonder if your
original objective still exists.
Trench warfare was the strategy during World War I. Sheltered
inside ditches, underground bunkers, and tunnels, soldiers spent days, weeks,
and months without ever getting a glimpse above ground. When they did, what they often found before
them was a wasteland. The protection
afforded by their fortifications saved lives, but at a horrible cost. Those effects included trench foot, disease,
atrophy, and limited escape from gas attacks.
During World War II, the German Army simply maneuvered around the
bunkers constructed by the French. While holed up safely underground, the Germans conquered. In both wars, many having been stuck underground for so long, lost their
mind.
What do bunkers and trench warfare have to do with your company’s
strategy? Consider the following phrases
and ask yourself if you’ve heard or spoken any lately.
- We need to protect the core.
- We will reinforce the franchise.
- We’re pulling back to carefully allocate resources.
- We simply need to weather the storm.
- We have to conserve our strength to live and fight another day.
- Everyone else is digging in too.
Some use the approach of withdrawing behind seemingly
impregnable walls to wait out the assault.
In ancient times, a siege rarely worked well for those barricaded
inside. A determined adversary could
surround the fortress and starve those inside of supplies and reinforcements or
simply go around leaving them isolated.
Companies can become insular with this strategy. They starve themselves of great talent (the
company is not presently hiring) and cut themselves off from strategic opportunities. Venturing from the secure gates of their
existing strategy is deemed too risky.
And when the siege is finally over, their competitors have moved on and secured
new markets. Why would you choose to
barricade yourself when opportunity and growth lie beyond the company’s walls?
We all possess a tendency to protect ourselves when danger
emerges. It’s wired into our brains as
part of our ‘fight or flight’ defense mechanism. So it’s natural to seek shelter in a storm. Leaders however know that digging in has its
limitations. When you take your team
underground, you have foreclosed options in lieu of perceived protection. While remaining on your path has perils,
staying put is more treacherous. There
are times when seeking temporary shelter is prudent, but too often, people are
lulled into a false sense of security and stay too long.
"This
time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with
it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
During tough times, there are always companies that emerge
stronger and better. They prevail in
spite of the storm because they deliberately choose not to dig in. Instead, while everyone else is hunkered down,
they seize the initiative to capitalize on open territory left unprotected while
competitors are holed up. They face into
the storm and press forward. They are
able to maintain a view of the obstacles ahead and maneuver around them. And in the end, they are the ones who are
able to execute their strategy, seize their objective, and win. Standing on the high ground, they look around
and find their competitors nowhere in sight – they are still waiting for the
storm to pass.
I’ve worked with numerous clients facing significant
challenges. Some are already stuck in
bunkers or behind walls while others have chosen to brave the elements and
press on. Looking at declining quarterly
numbers, slipping opportunities, and shrinking market can create concern or
even panic. It can be confusing and
fearful. But digging the hole deeper or
adding another layer of rock to the wall won’t change the course. If you aren’t moving forward, you’re losing
ground. These times call leaders to
courage and creativity. Finding a way
may require letting go of the perceived safety and taking on some risk. You may have to abandon what has proven to be
successful in exchange for something different and potentially better. These are hard decisions to make.
When facing tough times, companies that will prevail are the
ones who choose to press on. They use
creativity and ingenuity to find a better way.
They invest wisely, deploy their resources to meet the challenge, and
maneuver their way through the minefields.
Adjusting their strategy to meet the approaching storm, they chart a new
path. Companies that choose to shovel
themselves into a shelter may be able to weather the storm, but they emerge
weaker. Having kept their teams
underground they suffer from maladies of discontent, discouragement, and
atrophy. Their competitive muscles are
weakened by months of living in the dark.
If your company has decided to “protect” itself and its
business, can you be sure it will truly survive to fight another day? Why not reexamine your strategy and decide to
take your team forward? With discipline
and innovation, you can craft an approach that keeps you moving and allows you
to capitalize on the timidity of your competitors. Darwin had it right – in business as in
nature, it’s survival of the fittest.
You can’t stay fit sitting in a bunker.
Embrace the challenge!
Duane Grove is founder of Connect2Action, a strategy
execution specialist at the intersection of employee engagement and executive
leadership, igniting innovation as a lever to accelerate your growth. Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action and
connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+. Learn more by visiting
www.connect2action.com.
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