It's Time to Poke the Bear: Stop Crippling Your Organization with Inaction

Back in July 2009, I attended a Washington Technology Industry Association/MIT Enterprise Forum event in which talked about leveraging the economic downturn. One of the most valuable points I took away was that strategy isn't about what you're going to do: It's about what you are NOT going to do.

As I look around, I seen a lot of people not doing anything. Instead of leveraging the available opportunities, many are unwilling to take the necessary steps to move forward. These organizations hope to ride out this bear market and come out the other side doing business as usual.

Well, I hate to tell you the obvious, but business is going to look very different when we come out the other side of this downturn. Already, the economy is seeing a bit of an upswing. Those organizations will continue to fall behind and eventually cripple their ability to compete. They will not be ready when opportunities arise, for they won't have been proactive in reshaping their organizations for the new market. The three ways I have seen leaders use inaction to slowly cripple their organizations include:

1. Screaming Poverty. Access to capital is tougher than ever. It's unfortunate what's happening in the credit markets. But demanding something for next to nothing at every turn will get the organization that's always crying poverty nothing in the end. Bears don't care how much you scream. Organizations have to be proactive, creative, and resourceful in developing a strategy to deal with the bears that pop up along the path. Poverty-screaming organizations will slowly run out of cash as they waste their time wheeling and dealing instead of developing an effective strategy and leveraging currently available opportunities. Even with bears lurking, there is fruit on the trees.
   
2. Analysis Paralysis. Many decision makers either know this or someone like this. Organizations trapped in analysis paralysis get so bogged down in weighing the opportunities, that the window of opportunity opens and shut while they're huddled in indecision. Bears like huddles: more snacks in a smaller area.
   
3. Playing Dead. It's an old trick of camouflage that "if they don't see me, then they can't eat me." With Playing Dead, leaders cover their eyes, double over, and think that "If I can't see them, then they can't eat me." Bears have a great sense of smell. They will eat an organization whether it's being proactive or not. When leaders curl into a ball, they don't become more effective in riding out the storm. They just get eaten from behind and don't even realize it.

So how do you recognize when inaction cripples an organization? Three easy ways:

• Revenue has dropped sharply or crawled to a halt.
• Productivity is on a measurable decline.
• Morale is non-existent among your team members.
  

If you're noticing one or more of these three things happening in your organization, you need a strategist to help you identify the gaps and get together a plan of action to keep this bear market from devouring your organization. Tracy A. Corley & Associates can do just that.

It's time to poke the bear and keep moving forward. Let this aggressive market drive you to be proactive in developing and following a responsive strategy that works in the current and future market scenarios. It will guide your organization on the right path so that you focus and move forward instead of getting stalled by what you should NOT be doing. Most importantly, you should NOT scream poverty, get trapped in analysis paralysis, or play dead. Inaction will cripple your organization and eat you alive. Stay on the move with an effective strategy and don't be afraid of the bears you poke along the way.