Did You Miss The Reset? (Linked In)

Join me in the future…

Fast forward.  It is Friday, October 15, 2021.  You are sitting in your office wondering where it all went wrong.  Costs have risen, margins are razor thin, customers are vaporizing, your work processes have devolved into chaos, and your employees are on the edge of revolution.  The 3rd quarter has passed, so there is essentially no hope to make any meaningful change that will save your business and operations in 2021 and claw out of a $200 MM hole.  You throw up your hands, turn off your computer, and head home.  Frustrated, defeated, and absolutely no energy to even start thinking about 2022.

Too much?  Scared now?  

Rewind.

It is Friday, August 21, 2020.  This year has been an absolute beast with so much unprecedented adversity you are simply waiting for the locusts to fall out of the sky and the earth to open and swallow us whole.  You spin like that for a few moments… hours… days… and then you get a grip.  Whatever is going on, you must find a way through.  You recall a presentation you saw two weeks ago from a promising young analyst, explaining how increasing supply chain visibility could provide breakthrough results increasing product availability, reducing inventory, and provide operational stability.  Yes, the $1.2 MM investment seems far-fetched amidst a global pandemic, racial awakening, and general virtual workforce fatigue.  However, you politely listened and later dismissed this presentation 2 weeks ago, for some reason the message clamps to your mind.

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There is a reset happening.  Only the best organizations led by the best leaders with the most committed employees will win.  Not everyone will win.

How can you win?

Recognize you are likely not working at your best.  As human beings, we never imagined the world we live in now.  Unless you are living under a rock, it IS affecting you.  Like many companies, this time is creating panic and urgency in new ways.  Our attempts to address so many issues cloud our vision and judgement to see and find breakthrough solutions.  All you can see is the  $1.2 MM investment, but you must learn to see the $200 MM improvement.

Exit back to the basics.  Consider the strategy you established at the beginning of the year and the priorities you set.  Recognize how that strategy and those priorities have changed, and must continue to change.  Be bold as you consider 2021 scenarios and possible solutions.  Smart investment of all your resources will be cornerstone to breakthrough benefits.

Search for the best talent to navigate you through this.  That best talent includes YOU.  Allow yourself time to reflect on 2020, your response to it, and how your response needs to change going forward.  You may be surprised to realize, now that your strategy, priorities, and the entire world has changed, the people around you may NOT be the right people for the path you set forward.  And maybe you need to step up your game, too!

Elevate your thinking, your plan, and your team.  These cannot be “desperate times that call for desperate measures.”  Reactive rhetoric will kill innovation needed to overcome these odds.  Increase your collaboration with new people and teams, use new resources, and try new methods.  Our world is a brand new place and the rules are changing.  Your past success will not dictate your success forward. 

Trust your gut.  At the end of the day, your connection to your values and intuition should play a role in guiding your decisions.  Give yourself the space and quiet time you need to sort through the million pieces of information you encounter each day.  Quiet the noise, settle your thoughts, clear your mind, check your gut, and then take action.

You still have time to take control and make a change.

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Do not miss the RESET.  Instead, own it.