Is your company going to sink or swim during the credit crunch?

I was reading a recent article by Paul McKie which suggested that, thinking outside the box may have been optional for organisations during the good times, but it’s an absolute necessity if you’re to survive a recession.

He uses Charlie Chaplin and Walt Disney as examples of men that have respectively failed and succeeded when faced with challenging times.

Charlie Chaplin was almost considered a god at the height of his success. He inspired and influenced thousands of fellow actors. But, his refusal to adapt his character with the introduction of ‘Talking Pictures’ in the 1920s meant he produced very few movies after that.

Walt Disney faced a similar seismic change in his industry, with the introduction of TV in the 1950’s. Knowing he couldn’t change events Disney, instead of focusing on the threats to his existing business, chose to focus on the opportunities he could make from this change. At the time he was in the middle of creating his theme park, ‘Disneyland’, and he needed extra funding. He quickly struck a deal with the new ABC television company to produce a weekly slot to show the park being built. The extra interest this publicity generated enabled him to obtain the funding, and in the process Walt Disney realised one of his many dreams.

Paul then goes on to draw parallels with our current banking crisis of 2008. He believes sections of industry – if not all of it – are being affected by a considerable amount of change. It’s the same type of change the film industry experienced in the 1920s and 1950s, but with more far-reaching implications.

What becomes clear during difficult economic times is that the (old) ways of thinking we held onto during the boom simply won’t work. Fear replaces intuition in a recession. Pessimism replaces optimism. It’s entirely natural.

However when a person or company gets preoccupied with ‘protecting what they’ve achieved’, rather than focusing on ‘what is still achievable’, the only ‘wave’ you are now surfing on is headed straight for the rocks. Some companies will adapt, some won’t. But just as Walt Disney demonstrated during the change that was TV, there will be winners emerging from this recession. There always are. The winners will be entrepreneurial, open-minded companies (and their teams) that develop the skills to think laterally, and therefore embed in their organisation a process that accepts and embraces change – regardless of its timing and whatever form it takes. These companies will have the lateral thinking ability to not only survive a recession, but indeed prosper from it.