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Planning past the crisis

Written by: Karen Kelloway

Article Overview: We need to give people a reason to get back on board. This article talks about using our current negative economic experience as a means to greater clarity and then developing strategies to move toward the results we desire in a careful, measured way. Success doesn't usually happen in giant leaps. Success is a process of small, intentional steps. The first step is gaining clarity.

Planning past the crisis

Planning past the crisis - Hold on to your paddles

(May 2009)

I recently received a membership renewal notice that started with the words "In these tough economic times..." For goodness sake, it's a membership renewal not life insurance! Give me a reason to renew, don't reinforce why I shouldn't. It's fine to acknowledge the economic uncertainty, but what we could be thinking about is how our words and actions have the ability to influence a more purposeful, meaningful outcome that inevitably emerges out of the experience and clarity gained by riding the rougher waters.

Which reminds me of a story. Some time ago on a whitewater rafting trip, I found myself among a group of tourists plummeting toward a mammoth-sized fallen tree. The boat hit the tree straight on and started to take on water. Joe, our tour guide, immediately ordered everyone out of the boat and onto the log. As the rest of the crew abandoned ship, I noticed the paddles were starting to float away. So I grabbed them. And since the boat seemed to have stabilized, I continued to collect the paddles and calmly tuck each one securely under the seat. The guide wasn't impressed with my planning. He - like the rest of the crew - was focused on the crash. But no one was complaining 30 minutes later when we continued along the journey - paddles in hand.

We need to give people a reason to get back on board. I'm talking about using our current experience as a means to greater clarity and then developing strategies that use our creativity and ingenuity to move toward the results we desire in a careful, measured way. Success doesn't usually happen in giant leaps. Success is a process of small, intentional steps. The first step is gaining clarity.

In my group coaching sessions, we often start with an exercise to Name what we want. What happens, however, is that participants often have a longer list of what they don't want, what's not quite right or what's not working in their current work experience. So start there. List all of those annoyances, disappointments, irritants. Get more paper if you need to. But now comes the fun part - and you need to make time for this or you'll stay stuck in the negative churn. Take each item on your list and reframe it to an affirmative statement (ie. what it is you really want). For example, you would reframe the statement 'our internal staff meetings are tedious and always start late' to something you do want such as 'our internal staff meetings are well run and purposeful with an agenda, a commitment to start and stop on time, and minutes that clearly outline who is responsible for each action'. Keep reframing and rephrasing each of the statements that aren't working into something that you want to see happening in your team. This is a simple, but powerful exercise that acknowledges the specifics of what is not working and then uses that information to create more clarity so that people have a unified focus.

With your list of powerful intentions now firmly in had, you're ready to start strategizing on how to get from A to B. And for that, you might wish you had held on to your paddles!

Questions for Reflection

1. What opportunities do you see (individually, as a team, as an organization)?

2. How do those opportunities fit into your broader vision?

3. What's not working or not quite right? (Make a list)

4. How can you reframe each item on your list from question three in a way that starts you moving more powerfully toward those opportunities?

5. What's possible with your current resources? What else is possible with your current resources?

6. What other support do you need to move forward?

7. How are you going to celebrate the milestones?

Related Articles
  The Fundamentals of Crisis Communications
  Managing Crises Before They Happen
  “Crisis Management Planning – What’s Happening Where We Work?”
  Do You Know Where Your Disaster Recovery Plan Is
  In a time of crisis, PR is your greatest asset

Article Tags: 30 minutes, clarity, crash, creativity, economic times, economic uncertainty, exercise, giant leaps, goodness sake, ingenuity, journey, life insurance, membership renewal, nbsp, paddles, participants, sessions, tourists, water joe, whitewater rafting trip



Related Forum Posts
Let's talk about financial stress - We all know that financial crisis has messed up our life at this moment. More than that, researchers believe that both employees and employers are more stressed than usually. That's why i want to find out your opinion and if financial crisis has influenced your business let us know in what way. And if you have any ideas how we can manage stress, just say it. We all need to hear it.
Re: How do you make the most of your day? - Planning, To Do lists, and deadlines all help me. Also being self critical of my own time management helps me raise the bar. I still check email too often though.
Re: Funding Question - I guess you’d need like a business planning to show that it is a good idea, especially in these crisis times it is not that hard getting loans from banks if you offer job perspectives. It would be nice to know more about how you’re doing
Book: Talking From 9 to 5 - Book: Talking From 9 to 5: How women's and men's conersational styles affect who gets heard, who gets credit, and what gets done at work Deborah Tannen, PhD 1994 You say something at a meeeting, it is ignored, then someone else says the same thing and everyone embraces it as a marvelous idea. You devote yourself to a project but don't get credit for the results. You work around the clock to avoid a crisis, but your efforts are not recognized because no one notices a crisis that never occurs. YOu give what you think are clear instructions, but the job is not done, or is done wrong. ... Work is a special world because as we talk to get our jobs done, we are also being evaluated. How we get others to do what we want, and how we accept or avoid responsibility for mistakes, display or challenge authority, reveal or conceal what we don't know -- all affect how we are regarded and rewarded. TOC 1. Women and Men Talking on the Job 2. "I'm sorry, I'm not apologizing": Conversational rituals 3. "Why don't you say what you mean?" Indirectness at work 4. Marked: Women in the workplace 5. The glass ceiling 6. "She's the boss": Women and authority 7. Talking up close: Status and connection 8. What's sex got to do with it 9. Who gets heard? Talking at meetings References Index
Re: Success - I think it was Gary Player who said the harder I practice the luckier I become when it came to his success as a world class golfer. Planning and dedication to a task can make all the difference between success and failure. MichelleJ


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